• Druce testifies about abused past
[2003 Druce, birth name Darrin E. Smiledge] - Former RC priest Geoghan's death. [30yrs Geoghan] - RCC. 150 boys.Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), By Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , ~ January 21, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- Taking the witness stand in his own defense yesterday, Joseph L. Druce told a Worcester Superior Court jury about being sexually abused as a child, a violent home life when he was growing up and an early introduction to alcohol and drugs.
Charged with murder in the 2003 prison slaying of defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan, Mr. Druce testified in a packed courtroom that he was sexually assaulted by staff at a residential school he attended for several years as a child and also by an older male who befriended him when he was about 11 years old.
He said he was 13 and had been smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol the first time the older male "took advantage of me.
"I didn't let it happen; I couldn't stop it," Mr. Druce testified. When asked by his lawyer, John H. LaChance, if the sexual assaults continued, Mr. Druce responded, "Yeah, twice, another couple times.
"And why I stayed his friend for another five years, I don't know," he said, adding, "So what am I, gay now? That's what I've been fighting with my whole life."
Now 40, Mr. Druce stands accused of beating and strangling the 68-year-old Mr. Geoghan in the ex-priest's cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on the Lancaster-Shirley line. The killing occurred on the morning of Aug. 23, 2003. Mr. LaChance has raised an insanity defense on his client's behalf.
At the time of the slaying, Mr. Druce was serving a life sentence for the 1988 murder of a North Shore man who allegedly made a sexual advance toward him after picking him up hitchhiking. Mr. Geoghan, accused in civil lawsuits of sexually assaulting more than 100 boys, was serving a prison term for fondling a 10-year-old.
Prison officials and police said Mr. Druce confessed to the killing, telling them he did it to prevent Mr. Geoghan from assaulting other children once he was out of custody. Mr. Druce also claimed he had overheard Mr. Geoghan and other sex offenders talking about the digital penetration of young boys.
Mr. Druce mentioned that reported conversation in his only reference to the killing during yesterday's testimony. "And that's what triggered it," he said after telling the jury that the abuse he was subjected to at the residential school included digital penetration.
Mr. Druce, who was born Darrin E. Smiledge and legally changed his name in 1999, corroborated his mother's earlier testimony that his father was physically abusive toward her and him when he was growing up. He also accused his father, Dana Smiledge, of introducing him to alcohol when he was a young boy and to cocaine when he was a teen.
Mr. Smiledge, who testified earlier in the day, denied that he ever struck his ex-wife, Donna Gauthier, or that he ever gave his son cocaine. Mr. Smiledge, who was accompanied to court by a lawyer, said his two sons might have been given "a little beer or wine" on Christmas or New Year's Eve, but disputed Mr. Druce's claims that his father bought him drinks in restaurant bars when he was underage.
Mr. Druce's testimony was suspended late yesterday afternoon, shortly after he acknowledged that he receives a dose of Ritalin every morning for attention-deficit disorder and that the effects of the drug, which he said helps him stay focused, seemed to be wearing off. He is scheduled to return to the witness stand when the trial resumes Monday morning.
Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist called as an expert witness for the defense, testified earlier in the day that Mr. Geoghan's presence in the protective custody unit at Souza-Baranowski triggered painful memories of being sexually abused as a child for Mr. Druce and caused him to become emotionally "unglued."
Dr. Ablow, board-certified in both adult and forensic psychiatry, told the jury that Mr. Druce was suffering from multiple mental illnesses when he killed Mr. Geoghan and that he lacked criminal responsibility for his actions.
"Joseph Druce was and is suffering from an extremely severe form of mental illness, so much so that I would say I have not met a more ill patient in my career," said Dr. Ablow, who is also a writer and occasional television personality. He told the jury that Mr. Druce's mental diseases included attention-deficit disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, disassociative disorder, a personality disorder and inactive polysubstance dependence.
The psychiatrist testified Mr. Druce's mental state left him with "no core identity" and an inability to control his impulses and "underlying rage" after he had assumed "the persona of avenger or savior of the kids."
At the time of the killing, Mr. Druce was not only unable to distinguish right from wrong but was also incapable of conforming his behavior to the requirements of the law, according to Dr. Ablow. Under cross-examination by Assistant District Attorney Lawrence J. Murphy, Dr. Ablow denied delaying the submission of his written evaluation of Mr. Druce until yesterday as a trial "tactic."
He said his schedule did not permit him to forward the report to the lawyers in the case sooner.
• Once free, Larson could be locked up
[1980s Larson] - RCC. 3 altar boys + young man.The Wichita Eagle BY STAN FINGER, ~ January 21, 2006
KANSAS -- Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline on Friday vowed to go to court to have convicted child molester Robert Larson, a longtime Catholic priest in the Wichita Diocese, designated a sexual predator when he is released from state prison in March.
But to get what he wants, Kline will have to win a legal argument that a plea agreement protecting Larson from just such a move is invalid. Sexual predators are committed to a state institution indefinitely for treatment under terms of the Kansas Violent Predator Act.
"I consider him a predator," Kline said of Larson, "and we're doing all we can to keep him off the streets."
Larson, 76, pleaded guilty in 2001 in Harvey County District Court to abusing three altar boys and a 19-year-old man while he was pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Newton in the 1980s.
He will have served five years in prison -- the longest term possible under the state laws in place at the time of the crimes -- when he is released from Lansing on March 20.
One of the terms of the plea agreement under which Larson admitted guilt is that the state would not seek Larson's commitment under the Violent Predator Act. That agreement was signed by then-Harvey County Attorney Matt Treaster and Dan Monnat, Larson's defense lawyer.
• His side of the story
[Shifflett] - Baptist Church. Children.Culpeper Star Exponent, by Liz Mitchell, Saturday, January 21, 2006
VIRGINIA -- Chad Robison hopes by coming forward other people will have the courage to tell their stories of childhood abuse.
Robison, 29, says he is a victim of Charles Shifflett, the 54-year-old pastor of First Baptist Church of Culpeper who was arrested Tuesday on Class 6 felony charges of "cruelty and injury to children."
Until now, Robison had not gone public with his identity. On Friday, he spoke with reporters after filing another felony charge against Shifflett related to sexual abuse.
"It is no longer about me at all," Robison said. "It's only for the other kids who don't have a voice."
• Ex-priest's return to Lincoln opposed
[~ 1970s Benham] - RCC. Sexual offences.State Journal-Register, By JAMES WASHBURN, COPLEY NEWS SERVICE, Published Saturday, January 21, 2006
LINCOLN, Illinois -- Francis Benham, who most recently resided in Lincoln, will be freed Sunday after serving almost a year behind bars for sexual offenses he committed nearly three decades ago while a Catholic priest in Prince George's County, Md.
With permission from officials in Maryland and Illinois, Benham, now 69, could return to Lincoln, where he lived from 1987 until 2004.
But the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, is rallying its members to persuade officials in Illinois and Maryland, where the former priest is imprisoned, to halt Benham's return.
SNAP members from four states have sent a letter to Illinois Corrections Director Roger Walker and Walker's counterpart in Maryland, Mary Ann Saar.
• Former pastor gets four-year sentence
[1993/94 Martinez] - New Jerusalem Church. 2 girls.Santa Cruz Sentinel, By Cathy Smith, ~ January 21, 2006
CALIFORNIA -- In a crowded courtroom heavy with emotion, a former pastor and Pajaro Valley school district employee was sentenced Friday to four years in prison for molesting a 14-year-old girl in late 1993 or early 1994.
Steven Montez Martinez, 49, of Watsonville faced a maximum five-year sentence after jurors convicted him last month of molesting the teen on four occasions. His attorney, J.J. Hamlyn, said he will be eligible for parole in two years.
There were tears on both sides of the courtroom, including from the victim's sister, a 28-year-old Watsonville woman who said she was also molested by Martinez as a teen member of his now-defunct New Jerusalem church.
Because of child molestation and statute-of-limitations laws, he was charged with acts against one teen, yet two others testified of abuse that included what Martinez called "medical massages."
The victim's sister said she blamed herself at first, questioning, among other things, why he targeted her and why she hadn't been "smarter." But she said she has come to understand it was not her fault, despite how hard it was to believe "a man of God could hurt me so bad and cover it up so well." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:13 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Sat January 21, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sun January 22, 2006 edition follows:-
• Rabbi Mordecai Tendler Demands Resignation of Rabbis
[Tendler] - Judaist.
PRNewswire, Jan. 18, 2006
SPRING VALLEY, N.Y., -- /PRNewswire/ -- A motion to dismiss was filed last week seeking the summary dismissal of a case brought recently in Supreme Court, New York County entitled Adina Marmelstein v. Rabbi Mordecai Tendler.
The case was previously reported under the headline "RABBI IN SEX-GOD SCANDAL" written by David Hafetz of The New York Post, owned by News Corporation.
Widely reported in The Jewish Press, America's largest independent Jewish weekly newspaper, The Rabbinical Council of America, Mark Dratch, Yosef Blau, Hershel Billet and Basil Herring were summoned to appear before the Chief Rabbinical Court of the State of Israel (case number: 900008858-35-1) by Rabbi Tendler on his claim that the organization dismissed him without due process and his related claim that he was the victim of a conspiracy by the codefendants in the case, of malicious and libelous leaks, made by Rabbis Yosef Blau, Mark Dratch, Herschel Billet, and Basil Herring to Gary Rosenblatt, Editor of The Jewish Week.
It will be claimed at the trial of the case before the Rabbinical Court that leaks were utilized and calculated to mislead and pressure others on the Rabbinical Council of America to dismiss Rabbi Tendler from the organization.
The motion to dismiss the complaint denied the allegations and called the charges "scurrilous," "outrageous" and "calculated to be sensational and damaging to Rabbi Tendler's reputation in his community." The motion charged that the filing of the suit was a violation of the New York State Civil Rights Law. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 01:56 PM]
• Group wants ex-priest banned in Lincoln
[~ 1980s Benham] - RCC.Lincoln Courier, BY JAMES WASHBURN, January 21, 2006
ILLINOIS -- Francis Benham, who most recently resided in Lincoln, will be freed in Maryland Sunday after serving nearly a year behind bars for sexual offenses he committed nearly three decades ago while a Catholic priest in Prince George's County, Md.
With permission from officials in Maryland and Illinois, Benham could return to Lincoln where he lived from 1987 until 2004 – an action a national support group is trying to prevent.
Members of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, are rallying to persuade Illinois and Maryland officials to halt Benham's return.
SNAP members from four states drafted a letter addressed to Illinois Corrections Director Roger Walker and Walker's counterpart in Maryland, Mary Ann Saar.
• Scandal? For an Irish Parish, It's Just a Priest With a Child
- RCC. [? 2000s Dillane] - Fathered a child. [1975 Casey] - Fathered a child. [RCC] - Wave of sex abuse ended Church's central role.
The New York Times, By BRIAN LAVERY, Published: January 22, 2006
DUBLIN, Ireland Jan. 21 -- The affair had all the makings of a first-class scandal: in a quiet corner of rural Ireland, a 73-year-old Roman Catholic priest admitted to fathering a child last year with a local schoolteacher. Smelling a good story, television crews rolled into the village of Woodford, 30 miles southeast of Galway, and tabloid newspapers gleefully denounced "Father Romeo."
On radio call-in shows and television current affairs programs, the affair has kick-started a national debate about the celibacy requirement for Catholic clergy. Local residents, however, refused to get worked up about it. The priest, the Rev. Maurice Dillane, has remained in hiding, and his parishioners have closed ranks in his defense.
"People are just letting it go," said Declan Walsh, the only one of six pub owners in Woodford to entertain a reporter's questions on the topic. "People are understanding. It's 2006. Everybody twists the rules a bit on their way through life." ...
The seeming lack of outrage is a reflection of how much Ireland has changed since 1992. In that year, the charismatic and powerful bishop of Galway, Eamonn Casey, was discovered to have fathered a son 17 years before with a divorced American woman and to have used church funds to pay for the boy's education.
The revelations ended Father Casey's career as a bishop and shook the faith of thousands of Irish Catholics. And the incident was just the beginning of what was to be a decade of scandals, most notably a wave of sex abuse cases, that effectively ended the church's central role in Irish society.
• Casey plans his return to Galway
[1975 Casey] - RCC. Fathered a child.The Sunday Times (Britain), by Siobhan Maguire and Mark Tighe, ~ January 22, 2006
IRELAND -- THE Bishop of Galway, Martin Drennan, last night confirmed that Eamon Casey, the former bishop who fathered a child with an American divorcee, will return "within weeks" to live in the county.
Casey, who left Ireland 14 years ago, has decided to move back to live in Beagh, a quiet parish in south Galway, close to its boundary with Clare.
The 78-year-old has told Drennan he is hoping to find "privacy and peace" on his return. "He will be adjusting to a very new Ireland from the one he left. We have taken soundings in the parish and people have been very positive and very forgiving," Drennan said.
"He has decided against living around Galway city. He is very aware to live in and around the city would attract too much attention. He is very happy with the location and he will have better access to his own relatives."
• Priest suspended over rape claim
[? 1990s, 2000s Herve - NEW] - Church of England. Girl.
BBC News, http://news.bbc. co.uk/1/hi/england/ west_midlands/ 4636660.stm , ~ January 22, 2006
UNITED KINGDOM -- A priest who is chairman of governors at a Birmingham primary school has been suspended from church duties over allegations of child rape.
Canon John Herve, parish priest at St Agatha with St Barnabas in Sparkbrook, was arrested by police earlier this month and is currently on police bail.
He is alleged to have raped and indecently assaulted a girl under 16.
The board of governors at Ladypool School will meet this week to decide whether to remove him from his post.
• Priest sex-abuse victim presses on
[1978+ Benham] - RCC. Girl, boy.
The Washington Times, By Jon Ward, January 22, 2006
MARYLAND -- Donna Kollars confronted and helped convict the Catholic priest who abused her 28 years ago. Now she wants to protect others upon his scheduled released today from the Prince George's County jail.
"If I can do anything to help other families not go through this, I'm going to do it," Mrs. Kollars says.
She was 13 in 1978 when Francis A. Benham, then pastor of Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Forestville, began to sexually abuse her.
Last year, Mrs. Kollars pressed charges against Benham, who pleaded guilty to sodomizing her and to molesting a then-15-year-old boy named Matthew Ponton, who today is a lieutenant colonel in the Army.
Prince George's Circuit Court Judge Michelle Hotten sentenced Benham to 10 years for each crime, but suspended all but 18 months.
• Bellevue Priest Placed on Leave
[1970s-80s Frazier*] - RCC. Minor.ChallengerNYK, January 22, 2006
COVINGTON (KY) -- - Diocese of Covington Bishop Roger Foys has placed a Bellevue priest on administrative leave while allegations of sexual misconduct against the priest are being investigated.
The Rev. Richard Frazier, 55, who was ordained a priest in 1996, has denied the allegations.
In a letter to the diocese, Foys wrote that the allegations came to light as part of the class settlement process pending in Boone Circuit Court.
"The abuse is reported to have occurred in the late-1970s and early 1980s. Father Frazier has denied that he had sexual contact with any minors either before or after his ordination as a priest and maintains his innocence," Foys wrote.
• Ex-priest's trial marks new offensive in church abuse scandal
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.San Francisco Chronicle, By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent, Sunday, January 22, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA), (AP)-- Michael Wempe's attorney doesn't deny his client was a child molester in the 1970s and '80s, but he maintains the once-revered priest never committed the crime he is going on trial for -- molesting a boy in the 1990s.
"These new charges were fabricated," defense attorney Leonard Levine said on the eve of Wempe's trial, which is scheduled to begin Monday with opening statements. "He's being prosecuted not for what he's charged with but for what he did 20-30 years ago."
That could prove problematic for jurors, who must put aside thoughts of what Wempe did before as they attempt to determine if he is guilty of the crime he's charged with now.
Even if they are able to clearly separate in their minds the old charges from the new, said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson, they "will still pause before they let a priest go when he has done so much harm to so many."
"They would be worried about the message it would send," Levenson said.
• Accused priest wants house arrest lifted
[1984-94 Monsignor Fushek] - RCC. Fondled in Confession. 7 young men, boys.East Valley Tribune, By Gary Grado, January 22, 2006
ARIZONA -- An East Valley priest accused of 10 sex-related misdemeanor charges asked a judge Friday to let him off house arrest while he awaits trial.
Gilbert-South Mesa Justice of the Peace Judge Sam Goodman will consider the request at Monsignor Dale Fushek's next scheduled court appearance in February. He asked in December for one year to prepare his defense.
Fushek's attorney, Thomas Hoidal, said Fushek wants to be able to visit his sick brother in Flagstaff and attend to priestly duties but can't while confined to his home.
"He can't even attend church based on the conditions he has here," Hoidal said.
Fushek, 53, was arrested and charged in November. He is on administrative leave from his duties at St. Timothy's Catholic Community in southwest Mesa.
• Vermont Catholics schools implement prevention program
- RCC.Burlington Free Press, By Sally Pollak, ~ January 22, 2006
VERMONT -- Vermont's Catholic schools have incorporated into their curriculum a program that teaches children about sexual predators and how to protect themselves from potential abuse.
The Child Lures Prevention program that the diocese implemented was created by Ken Wooden of Shelburne, who trained more than 300 diocesan educators and administrators in its use.
The program was implemented in the state's 17 Catholic schools -- 15 primary schools and two high schools -- in November.
It will be an annual part of the curriculum, with age-appropriate lessons for students in grades 1-8, said Kevin Scully, director of safe environment programs for the diocese and former Burlington police chief.
It will be repeated for high school students, reaching the more than 2,700 students who attend Catholic school in Vermont.
• Prosecutors Charge Priest With Sexual Abuse
[2001-05 McCormack] - RCC. 2 boys.CBS 2, Mike Flannery Reporting, ~ January 22, 2006
CHICAGO (IL), (CBS) -- A Cook County judge set bond at $200,000 Saturday for a Roman Catholic priest in the alleged sexual abuse of two boys.
Cook County state's attorney's office spokesman John Gorman says Daniel McCormack, 37, was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
CBS 2's Mike Flannery reports that Central Bond Court (Br. 1) Judge Colleen Hyland set the bond for McCormack on closed-circuit television on Saturday.
Gorman says the priest allegedly assaulted the two children at St. Agatha Church, at 3147 W. Douglas Blvd. on the city's West Side.
• Kline to seek sexual predator designation
[Larson] - RCC. 4 males.The Morning Sun, January 22, 2006
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline wants to see a defrocked Roman Catholic priest committed for treatment as a sexual predator after he completes his prison term in March.
But Kline must first prove that he is not restricted by a plea agreement under which Robert Larson admitted in 2001 to sexually abusing four young men. The agreement, which was signed by then-Harvey County Attorney Matt Treaster and Larson's defense attorney, states that the state will not seek Larson's confinement under the Violent Predator Act.
Kline said the power to make such an agreement "rests in my office," not that of a county attorney.
"We are going to file notice with the court," Kline said. "We intend to have him classified as a predator and confined in Larned," where the Kansas Sexual Predator Treatment Program is located.
• Injunction Issued Against Albany Clergy Abuse Attorney
- RCC. Aretakis 300ft away.North Country Gazette, ~ January 22, 2006
ALBANY (NY) -- Albany attorney John Aretakis, at the center of clergy sexual abuse claims against the Roman Catholic Diocese, has been ordered to stay 300 feet away from the Holy Cross parish.
A temporary restraining order that had been in force against Aretakis was converted into a permanent injunction Friday by Albany Supreme Court Judge Thomas Spargo that restricts Aretakis and his followers from their weekly protests at Holy Cross Church and the Holy Cross School.
Spargo's injunction extends restrictions on Aretakis. He had originally been banned from within 100 feet of the church or school. He is now prohibited within 300 feet during Mass or at any time when school is in session and for the hour before and hour following Mass or school classes.
• Sex cases pending
[? 1990s-2000s Estrada] - RCC. Boy.San Angelo Standard-Times, By PAUL A. ANTHONY, panthony@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8237, January 22, 2006
MIDLAND (TX) -- The woman's son was 11 when he told her he no longer wanted to go to confession.
The priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Midland had tried to kiss him on the lips the week before, the boy told his mother. He is identified in the lawsuit as Domingo Estrada.
The woman talked to priests at two other churches, who said they would "take care of it." When she didn't hear back from them, she said, she called back, and one priest told her the priest had said he wouldn't do it again.
"I still was not satisfied with that," the woman told prosecutors in 2002 during testimony before a Midland County grand jury. "I talked to an attorney, and I asked him, I said, 'What do you think I should do?' And he said, 'Well, we can write a letter to the bishop.' ... And we did send a letter to the bishop."
A transcript of the testimony, attached to documents filed in a Midland County state district court last month, is a key point in one of two lawsuits pending against the Catholic Diocese of San Angelo and its bishop, Michael D. Pfeifer, that allege sexual abuse at the hands of diocesan priests.
• 'Doubt' goes deeper than issue of abuse
- RCC. Fiction. Pulitzer winner.The Post and Courier, BY DOTTIE ASHLEY, ~ January 22, 2006
NEW YORK - "Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty," says the young Catholic priest, Father Flynn, in the spellbinding Broadway show, "Doubt," winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for drama.
Playwright John Patrick Shanley, who won the Oscar for the film "Moonstruck," has arranged this on-the-surface predictable story to surprise you like a cold dash of water in the face.
At first, "Doubt" appears only to dissect a ubiquitous subject in the news today: the sexual abuse inflicted by priests upon Catholic school boys.
But Shanley, a product of Catholic schools, has not penned a mere screed against the Catholic Church.
Rather, "Doubt" is set in 1964 in a Catholic school in the Bronx long before the subject of sexual abuse of young boys by Catholic priests ever came to the public's attention.
"Maybe we're not supposed to sleep so well," says the aged Sister Aloysius to a young nun, Sister James, who is worrying about having reported the suspicious behavior of Father Flynn, a teacher and basketball coach at the school.
• Priest charged in sexual abuse of 2 boys
[2005 McCormack] - RCC. 4th in 22 yrs. 2 boys.Chicago Sun-Times, BY CATHLEEN FALSANI AND LESLIE BALDACCI, January 22, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Cook County prosecutors Saturday charged a 37-year-old Roman Catholic priest with sexually abusing two boys at a parish on Chicago's West Side as recently as last year.
The Rev. Daniel McCormack, pastor of St. Agatha parish and a teacher and basketball coach at Our Lady of the Westside School, was arrested Friday night at his brother's home in Orland Hills. He is charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
McCormack's arrest marks the first time in more than a dozen years that prosecutors have brought criminal abuse charges against a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago. McCormack is only the fourth priest from the archdiocese in 22 years to be prosecuted in Illinois for the alleged sexual abuse of a minor.
According to information presented in court by Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Kathleen Muldoon, McCormack allegedly abused one of the boys -- a member of the basketball team the priest coaches -- two to three times a month for nearly 3-1/2 years.
• Priest is charged in sex abuse
[2001+ McCormack] - RCC. 2 boys.Chicago Tribune, By Andrew L. Wang, Crystal Yednak and Brendan McCarthy, Published January 22, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- A Roman Catholic priest at a West Side church was charged Saturday with molesting two preteen boys at the church in several incidents since 2001, authorities said.
Rev. Daniel J. McCormack, 37, of the 8800 block of West 167th Street in Orland Hills, was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim younger than 13. Judge Colleen Hyland ordered him held in lieu of $200,000 bail at the Cook County Jail.
McCormack is accused of abusing two boys, a 13-year-old Chicago resident and an 11-year-old from Willowbrook, according to court records.
He is the pastor of St. Agatha Church at 3147 W. Douglas Blvd., said John Gorman, a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office. McCormack also is a teacher and basketball coach at Our Lady of the Westside School, Gorman said. The school has two campuses, one of which is adjacent to the church, in the Lawndale neighborhood.
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sun January 22, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Accused seeks fat chance
[1976-82 No name given] - No religion link. Son and daughter.
The Sunday Times (Perth, W. Australia), By AINSLEY PAVEY, p 26, January 22, 2006
AUSTRALIA: AN accused pedophile has launched a last-ditch legal bid to avoid facing court on child-sex charges because he is too fat to travel.
In a move that has outraged his alleged victims in Queensland, the 59-year-old -- now living in Perth and tipping the scales at almost 200kg -- is seeking a stay of proceedings that could end any prosecution.
He cannot be tried in WA, a situation described by one of the alleged victims, the man's daughter, as "ludicrous".
"It doesn't matter to us where the 12 people are sitting, but I just want him to face justice," the woman, now 37, told The Sunday Times.
The man, who is charged with seven offences relating to the alleged molestation of his son and daughter between 1976 and 1982, suffers morbid obesity that doctors say prevents him from travelling to Brisbane to face trial.
Under state and federal laws, an accused person cannot give evidence or make submissions to a court in another state, except on arraignment or sentencing.
Queensland's Director of Public Prosecutions yesterday vowed to "vigorously oppose" any request for a stay.
A spokesman also revealed the department had "new information" — a doctor who would present evidence in relation to transporting the man by air from Perth.
"The prosecution will continue to push for the defendant to face the charges," a DPP spokesman said.
"The Office of the DPP has committed itself to explore every avenue in an attempt to deliver justice and a resolution to the complainants in this matter."
The man's daughter described the situation as ludicrous.
"It doesn't matter to us where the 12 people are sitting, but I just want him to face justice," she said.
She said she had lobbied Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, Attorney-General Linda Lavarch and Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison to remove legal hurdles that stop him from appearing before a WA court. ... [Jan 22, 06]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Mon January 23, 2006 edition follows:-
• Accused Priest Makes Bond
[2003 McCormack] - RCC. 2 boys.
NBC 5, www.nbc5.com/ news/6345465/ detail.html , POSTED: 5:45 pm CST January 22, 2006, UPDATED: 8:36 am CST January 23, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- A Roman Catholic priest accused of fondling two boys at a church on Chicago's west side was let out of jail Sunday on bond.
Parishioners arrived at St. Agatha Church Sunday morning for the first Sunday services since they learned that the man who has served as their pastor for the last five years is now charged with sexually abusing two children.
Father Daniel McCormack, 37, who was arrested Friday, has been removed from his church duties while the charges are investigated, NBC5 reported.
Prosecutors said McCormack fondled an 8-year-old boy on two occasions in December 2003. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:42 PM]
• Priest raped us in an orgy, says nun
[Bisceglia, Gaudio] - RCC. Nun, other women.
The Times (London) Online, By Richard Owen, ~ January 23, 2006
ITALY -- A PRIEST whose devotion to saving the souls of prostitutes and porn stars has earned him celebrity status in Italy has been arrested on charges of sexual violence and group rape.
Father Fedele Bisceglia, 69, was arrested after a nun alleged that she and other women had been raped at their Franciscan hostel at Cosenza in Calabria, southern Italy.
Antonio Gaudio, 39, Father Bisceglia's assistant, has also been charged with sexual harassment. Both men deny the charges.
Father Bisceglia, a striking, white-bearded figure with piercing blue eyes, is a national figure in Italy because of his missionary work for the poor as well as his colourful, extrovert television appearances.
He is probably best known for having converted Luana Borgia, a porn actress, to Christianity ten years ago, persuading her to enter a convent on a retreat to reflect on her life and "purify herself spiritually".
Father Bisceglia even accompanied Ms Borgia to the Bologna "Erotic Fair", where she announced her conversion and set up a stall collecting money for an ambulance for one of his missions in Africa.
• Priest flees Gozo as Curia launches sex abuse probe
[priest] - RCC. Children.
Malta Today, by Matthew Vella, ~ January 23, 2006
MALTA -- The hasty departure of a Gozitan diocesan priest from the Nadur parish to the United States has startled an entire community, after complaints of alleged child sex abuse by the priest were referred to the Curia for investigation.
Yesterday Nadur's archpriest Mgr Salvu Muscat confirmed he referred complaints to the curia from parents whose children they claimed had been sexually abused by the priest, whose name is known to MaltaToday.
He said he was not aware of the outcome of the investigations. Sources told MaltaToday that the parents and children alleging the abuse had already been interviewed by the Curia's Response Team on child abuse.
• Disgraced Irish bishop plans return-- if charges are dropped
[Bishop Casey] - RCC. Fathered a child.
Catholic World News, January 23, 2006
DUBLIN, Ireland (CWNews.com) - Irish Church leaders have announced that a bishop who resigned in disgrace more than a decade ago, will soon return to Galway to live in retirement there. But Bishop Eamonn Casey says that he will not move back to Ireland until he is cleared of sex-abuse charges.
Bishop Casey left Ireland in 1992, after the public discovery that he had conducted a long love affair with an American women, fathered her child, and diverted diocesan funds to make child-support payments.
Bishop Martin Drennan, who now heads the Galway diocese from which Bishop Casey fled, released a public statement on January 21 revealing that his predecessor "has decided to return to Ireland in the near future."
Bishop Drennan said that he was confident that the priests and people of the Galway would welcome the former bishop's return, and allow him "the privacy and peace that he deserves" in his retirement home.
• Priest to stand aside after allegations
[priest] - RCC. Sexual abuse.RTE News, 22:41, 22 January 2006
IRELAND -- A parish priest in the Diocese of Galway has been asked to stand aside from his duties following allegations of sexual abuse.
Dr Drennan visited the concerned parish today and informed parishioners of the man's decision to stand aside.
• Gardai to quiz Bishop Casey in England on abuse claims
[Bishop Casey] - RCC. Fathered a child.
Irish Independent, by Eugene Hogan, Brian McDonald and Bernard Purcell, ~ January 23, 2006
IRELAND -- GARDAI will travel to the UK within weeks to interview former Bishop of Galway Eamonn Casey about an alleged sexual assault against a young girl over 20 years ago, the Irish Independent has learned.
But the investigation could take several months to complete.
And that could delay the 78-year old prelate's much-publicised return to this country.
It had been expected he would retire to a rural Co Galway parish in the near future.
Confirmation that the Garda investigation was still continuing came after a weekend of confusion. It started with the Bishop of Galway Dr Martin Drennan welcoming his predecessor's move home.
He then called on him to issue a public apology over the Annie Murphy affair.
But Dr Casey insisted last night that he had made a full, humble and contrite apology after it emerged 14 years ago he had fathered a son with Ms Murphy.
Last night he said he had made it clear "more than once" that he was sorry for the hurt caused to parishioners. [Emphasis added.]
• With elite backing, Catholic order has pull in Mexico
[Maciel] - RCC. Males.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, By Jose de Cordoba, The Wall Street Journal, Monday, January 23, 2006
MEXICO CITY -- Two years ago, a handful of Latin American billionaires and some of the world's top financiers gathered at New York's Plaza Hotel. They were honoring Mexican plutocrat Carlos Slim and raising money for schools for poor children run by the Legion of Christ, a fast-growing conservative Roman Catholic order.
Among those giving speeches at the black-tie gala were the Rev. Marcial Maciel, the 85-year-old Mexican founder of the Legion, and Citigroup Inc. Chairman Sanford Weill. Within hours, the diverse group of 500 well-wishers raised $725,000.
The Legion was in its element. Founded in 1941, the order concentrates on ministering to the wealthy and powerful in the belief that by evangelizing society's leaders, the beneficial impact on society is multiplied. Like the Jesuits who centuries ago whispered in the ear of Europe's princes, the Legion's priests today are the confessors and chaplains to some of the most powerful businessmen in Latin America.
"The soul of a trash collector is as important as the soul of Carlos Slim, but if Slim is converted, think of the influence and power for good he would wield," says Luanne Zurlo, a former Goldman Sachs securities analyst who organized the benefit. Mr. Slim, Latin America's richest man with a fortune estimated at $24 billion, says he's not a highly devout Catholic but is helping the Legion create 50 low-cost universities in Latin America. ...
More troubling for the Legion, Father Maciel, the order's founder, has been dogged for nearly a decade by widely publicized accusations that he sexually molested at least eight teenage seminarians from the 1940s through the early 1960s. Father Maciel denies the accusations. Many Catholic activists, angry with the church over cover-ups in priest sex-abuse cases, believe the Vatican has protected Father Maciel because of the Legion's reach and power.
• Priest Denied Contact With Young Family Members
[2001-05 McCormack] - RCC. 2 boys.
CBS 2 , ~ January 23, 2006
CHICAGO (IL), (AP) -- A judge isn't allowing a Roman Catholic priest accused of fondling two boys to have supervised contact with family members under the age of 18.
Authorities arrested Daniel McCormack Friday night in the Chicago suburb of Orland Hills and charged him with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
In court today, McCormack's attorney sought to have the conditions of his release on bond altered to allow him to have contact with young relatives. Prosecutors say Judge Douglas Simpson denied that request.
A phone message left with attorney Patrick Reardon wasn't immediately returned.
• Inmate Says Arrogant Geoghan Angered Him
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's death. [30yrs Geoghan] - RCC. 150 boys.The Columbian, By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press Writer, 5:11 PM EST, Jan 23, 2006
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- The inmate who strangled child-molesting priest John Geoghan behind bars testified Monday that he resolved to kill the clergyman after Geoghan arrogantly brushed off criticism that he had "destroyed all kinds of lives."
Joseph Druce took the stand for a second day at his trial for killing Geoghan, who was serving time for groping a 10-year-old boy and had been accused of molesting 150 other children.
Druce, 40, said that in the weeks before the slaying, he twice confronted Geoghan about molesting children. Instead of denying the accusations, Geoghan was "arrogant" and said he was worth far more than the millions the Boston Archdiocese had paid to settle lawsuits against him, Druce testified.
"I was just, like, 'That's it. That's it. I've got to stop this,'" Druce said. "I couldn't get it out of my head."
After Geoghan was dead, Druce said, he felt relief: "It had been done. It was over ... I had peace of mind."
• Prosecutor: Child molest victims were drawn to charismatic LA priest
[1972-87, 1990s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.San Francisco Chronicle, By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent, Monday, January 23, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA), (AP) -- Michael Wempe was the "hip" priest who wore his hair long, rode a motorcycle and gave such dynamic sermons that young people were drawn to him, and he used that magnetism to molest more than a dozen boys, a jury was told Monday during opening statements in the former Catholic priest's sex abuse trial.
"The defendant had a dark side," said Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks. "He wanted to touch boys and enjoy it. ... His lifestyle was preach on Sunday, molest Monday through Friday and pray on Saturday."
Wempe's attorney, Leonard Levine, did not deny in his opening statement that the ex-priest was a child molester who abused numerous boys over a 15-year period beginning in 1972. But he added that Wempe is not guilty of the crime with which he is charged, molesting another boy in the 1990s.
He said those allegations were fabricated by a man seeking to punish the priest for past transgressions against the man's brothers.
• Chicago priest charged with sexual abuse
[2001-05 McCormack] - RCC. 2 boys.ABC 7, By Charles Thomas, January 23, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) - A Chicago priest who is accused of molesting two boys appeared in court Monday. Father Daniel McCormack, who once spoke out against the sex scandal in the Roman Catholic Church, is now under scrutiny himself.
The vast majority of the sexual abuse cases in the Chicago Archdiocese have involved allegations against priests going back decades. The charges against the Reverend Dan McCormack allege incidents within the past five years -- meaning a full-fledged criminal investigation is underway.
Accompanied by family members, the 37-year-old Catholic priest arrived at the criminal courts building Monday morning to make his second appearance on the two charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. McCormack was freed Saturday after posting 10-percent of his $200,000 bond. Judge Douglas Simpson continued the case until February 10 when McCormack's private attorney will begin fighting the accusations.
• Priest living in Franklin County arrested on sex assault charges
[1960s MacArthur] - 7 charges.St. Louis Post-Dispatch, FROM STAFF REPORTS, Saturday, Jan. 21 2006
MISSOURI -- A Roman Catholic priest living at a home for pedophile priests in eastern Franklin County was arrested Thursday and accused of committing seven sexual assaults while he was assigned to a hospital in Wisconsin in the 1960s, officials said.
The cases could still be prosecuted due to a legal quirk: The statute of limitations on the charges was frozen when the priest left the state decades ago.
At the request of police in Beaver Dam, Wis., Franklin County sheriff's deputies arrested the Rev. Bruce D. MacArthur, 83, at Evergreen Hills Home, formerly known as Wounded Brothers Project. MacArthur was held in jail pending extradition.
• Trial begins in molestation case against retired LA priest
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.San Francisco Chronicle, By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent, Monday, January 23, 2006
CALIFORNIA, (AP) -- A prosecutor described in graphic detail Monday the molestation of numerous boys by retired Roman Catholic priest Michael Wempe but told jurors they would be asked to convict him of crimes against only one alleged victim who is now grown.
Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks said in his opening statement that most of the men who will testify repressed their memories of the abuse for many years, as did the man whose claims led to the current criminal trial.
Wempe's lawyer, however, told the jury that the claims of the most recent alleged victim were false and were fabricated to avenge the molestation of his two brothers many years earlier.
• Hearing Date Set For Priest Accused of Sexual Abuse
[2001-05 McCormack] - RCC. 2 boys.WBBM, Bernie Tafoya and Mary France Bragiel Reporting, ~ January 23, 2006
CHICAGO (IL), (WBBM Newsradio 780) -- A judge set a preliminary hearing date of Feb. 10 for a priest charged with two counts of aggreviated [? aggravated] criminal sexual abuse.
Fr. Daniel McCormack didn't speak to reporters and his attorney, Patrick Reardon, said very little except that he would fight the charges.
McCormack's attorney also asked to tried to [??] extend the West Side priest's condition of bond so that he can spend time with family members under the age of 18. The judge denied the request.
The archdiocese of Chicago says sexual molestation allegations first began to surface late last summer or early in the fall against McCormack, who was charged over the weekend.
• Druce describes thoughts leading up Geoghan killing
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's death. [30yrs Geoghan] - RCC. 150 boys.The Boston Globe, By Denise Lavoie, AP Legal Affairs Writer | January 23, 2006
WORCESTER, Mass. -- In the weeks before he strangled pedophile priest John Geoghan in his prison cell, Joseph Druce confronted the former priest about molesting children, Druce testified Monday at his murder trial.
Instead of denying the accusations against him, Geoghan was "arrogant" and said he was worth far more than the millions the Boston Archdiocese had already paid to settle molestation lawsuits against him.
"I was just, like, that's it, that's it. I've got to stop this" guy, Druce said. "I couldn't get it out of my head."
Prosecutors began calling rebuttal witnesses after the defense rested two weeks into the trial in Worcester Superior Court. Judge Francis Secteau told the jury they would hear closing arguments and begin deliberations in the case Tuesday.
• Wempe Priest Abuse Trial Set To Begin Today
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.CBS 2, ~ January 23, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA), (AP) -- Opening statements are set for this morning in the Los Angeles molestation trial of retired priest Michael Wempe.
The trial begins after an entire week of probing jury selection complicated by the emotional issues involved in the case.
Many prospective jurors were dismissed when they said they could not put aside their feelings of revulsion about child molestation.
But several deeply religious people who believe that priests should be held to a high moral standard as spiritual leaders remain on the panel.
Most of the six-man, six-woman jury say they find the issue of clergy child abuse disturbing but promised to be fair in judging Wempe.
• Ex-Priest To Be Arraigned On Abuse Charges
[1984-96 Baker] - RCC. Boy.CBS 2, ~ January 23, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA), (AP) -- Ex-priest Michael Stephen Baker will be arraigned on child molestation charges today in Los Angeles.
Baker was spared child molestation charges in 2003 by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that disallowed retroactive prosecution of decades-old sex crimes involving children.
But he was arrested on fresh molestation charges Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport as he returned from Thailand.
Police say Baker is suspected of molesting a boy for 12 years beginning in 1984.
• Former priest's alleged killer testifies about childhood abuse
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's death. [30yrs Geoghan] - RCC. 150 boys.WPRI, ~ January 23, 2006
WORCESTER, Mass. -- Joseph Druce is expected to back on the stand this morning when his murder trial resumes in Worcester Superior Court.
Druce is charged with the August 2003 killing of convicted pedophile priest John Geoghan at the Sousa-Baranowski state prison.
Druce took the witness stand Friday, describing years of childhood sexual and physical abuse that his attorneys say triggered an uncontrollable rage.
Druce referred to killing Geoghan only once during his hour-long testimony. He said his anger was triggered when he overheard the defrocked priest talking to other inmates about molesting boys.
• Clergy abuse crisis continues financial depletion of the Diocese.
[Worcester Diocese] - RCC. $US 388,000 on abuse healing activities. One received help.Worcester Voice, ~ January 23, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- In reviewing the annual financial report for the 2005 fiscal year of the Worcester Diocese, it is obvious to those who can read between the lines that clergy sexual abuse crisis is depleting cash from diocese.
The Office of Healing, whose director resigned early last year, still registered an expense of $179,000.00. Therapeutic assistance was recorded at $65,000.00 and legal services were listed at $144,000.00 dollars. Total expenses were $388,000.00.
This figure seem extremely disproportionate with the actual services provided to clergy abuse victims in the Worcester Diocese. Not one new clergy abuse victim reported receiving services by the Office of Healing. One alleged victim did contact the Office, was dissatisfied with the interaction and never returned.
• Retired Priest Charged In Sexual Assaults
[? 1960s MacArthur] - RCC. Girls.Keloland, Jan/23/2006
SOUTH DAKOTA -- A former South Dakota Catholic priest who recently settled an abuse lawsuit has been charged with sexually assaulting girls in Wisconsin.
The Reverend Bruce Duncan MacArthur was taken into custody outside a church housing and recovery center in St. Louis.
The 83-year-old retired priest was charged with sexual intercourse of a child, indecent behavior with a child and attempted indecent behavior with a child.
• Religious jurors to hear opening statements in priest abuse case
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.The Press-Enterprise, By LINDA DEUTSCH, The Associated Press, ~ January 23, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- Jurors who are about to hear opening statements in a priest's molestation trial include several deeply religious people who believe that priests should be held to a high moral standard because of their role as spiritual leaders.
Most said they found the issue of clergy child abuse disturbing but promised to be fair in judging the defendant, retired priest Michael Wempe.
"I'm always kind of saddened by these kinds of cases," said a woman who remains on the jury. "I think priests are our spiritual leaders and they have a greater accountability."
The woman, who said she had been excommunicated by the Catholic Church when she married a divorced man, said she holds no hard feelings against the church.
Some other panelists, however, expressed their concern about the way the entire priest molestation issue was handled by the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
That issue is likely to be a subtext of Wempe's trial, which centers on activities that followed his return to priestly duties after six months of therapy. Cardinal Roger Mahony approved his reassignment as chaplain of Cedars Sinai Hospital in spite of his history as a molester.
• Retired priest charged in assaults
[1960s MacArthur] - RCC. Girls.Sioux City Journal, January 23, 2006
EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- A former South Dakota Catholic priest who recently settled an abuse lawsuit has been charged with sexually assaulting girls during the 1960s while he was a hospital chaplain in Wisconsin.
The Rev. Bruce Duncan MacArthur, 83, was taken into custody outside a church housing and recovery center in St. Louis on Friday.
MacArthur, who's retired, was charged with two counts of sexual intercourse of a child, four counts of indecent behavior with a child and one count of attempted indecent behavior with a child.
"Although he is elderly, we cannot hesitate to bring someone to justice for horrific crimes merely because he has been able to avoid prosecution for so many years," said Steven Bauer, District Attorney in Dodge County, Wis.
MacArthur admitted to sexually assaulting at least two girls while serving at Beaver Dam Community Hospital, then called St. Joseph Hospital, according to the criminal complaint.
• Retired priest charged in assaults
[1960s MacArthur] - RCC. 2 girls.Sioux City Journal, January 23, 2006
EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- A former South Dakota Catholic priest who recently settled an abuse lawsuit has been charged with sexually assaulting girls during the 1960s while he was a hospital chaplain in Wisconsin.
The Rev. Bruce Duncan MacArthur, 83, was taken into custody outside a church housing and recovery center in St. Louis on Friday.
MacArthur, who's retired, was charged with two counts of sexual intercourse of a child, four counts of indecent behavior with a child and one count of attempted indecent behavior with a child. "Although he is elderly, we cannot hesitate to bring someone to justice for horrific crimes merely because he has been able to avoid prosecution for so many years," said Steven Bauer, District Attorney in Dodge County, Wis.
MacArthur admitted to sexually assaulting at least two girls while serving at Beaver Dam Community Hospital, then called St. Joseph Hospital, according to the criminal complaint.
• Retired priest charged in assaults
[1960s MacArthur] - RCC. 2 girls.Sioux City Journal, January 23, 2006
EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- A former South Dakota Catholic priest who recently settled an abuse lawsuit has been charged with sexually assaulting girls during the 1960s while he was a hospital chaplain in Wisconsin.
The Rev. Bruce Duncan MacArthur, 83, was taken into custody outside a church housing and recovery center in St. Louis on Friday.
MacArthur, who's retired, was charged with two counts of sexual intercourse of a child, four counts of indecent behavior with a child and one count of attempted indecent behavior with a child.
"Although he is elderly, we cannot hesitate to bring someone to justice for horrific crimes merely because he has been able to avoid prosecution for so many years," said Steven Bauer, District Attorney in Dodge County, Wis.
MacArthur admitted to sexually assaulting at least two girls while serving at Beaver Dam Community Hospital, then called St. Joseph Hospital, according to the criminal complaint.
• Parishioners support accused priest
[2001-05 McCormack] - RCC. 2 boys.Chicago Sun-Times, BY JIM RITTER AND FRANK MAIN, January 23, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Their pastor had just been accused of sexually abusing two boys, but on Sunday, members of St. Agatha Catholic Church still spoke highly of the Rev. Daniel McCormack.
"He's one of the best," said longtime parishioner Phyllis Lee. "I don't believe the allegations."
McCormack, 37, has been pastor since 2000. Parishioners called him an energetic and passionate priest who helped make St. Agatha an anchor of the Lawndale community.
St. Agatha, 3151 W. Douglas, runs a food pantry, feeds the homeless, attracts new housing, provides legal assistance and operates tutoring and afterschool programs.
"We can't throw out his good work," said parishioner Derrick Strongs.
• Parish stung by pastor's sex arrest
[2001-05 McCormack] - RCC. 2 boys.Chicago Tribune, By James Kimberly, Published January 23, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- A swarm of reporters and a sign that read "Pray, Pray, Pray" greeted parishioners Sunday at St. Agatha Catholic Church on Chicago's West Side.
The reporters were there to ask about the arrest of the church's senior pastor, Rev. Daniel J. McCormack, 37, on charges that he sexually abused two young boys.
The sign was a message from Rev. Tom Walsh, a priest in residence at St. Agatha, to remind the church in the Lawndale neighborhood to remember what to do in times like this.
The congregation was stunned by McCormack's arrest, which occurred Friday evening at his brother's home in Orland Hills, according to Orland Hills police.
Most of the parishioners learned from media reports that "Father Dan" has been charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of children under 13.
He is accused of abusing a 13-year-old boy from Chicago and an 11-year-old boy from Willowbrook between September 2001 and January 2005.
• Church members defend priest accused of abuse
[2001-05 McCormack] - RCC. 2 boys.Daily Southtown, By Jim Ritter and Frank Main, Special to the Daily Southtown, Monday, January 23, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Their pastor had just been accused of sexually abusing two boys, but on Sunday, members of St. Agatha Catholic Church still spoke highly of the Rev. Daniel McCormack.
"He's one of the best," said longtime parishioner Phyllis Lee. "I don't believe the allegations."
McCormack, 37, has been pastor since 2000. Parishioners called him an energetic and passionate priest who helped make St. Agatha an anchor of Chicago's Lawndale community.
St. Agatha, 3151 W. Douglas Blvd., runs a food pantry, feeds the homeless, attracts new housing, provides legal assistance and operates tutoring and afterschool programs.
"We can't throw out his good work," parishioner Derrick Strongs said.
• Parishioners Back Priest Accused Of Sex Abuse
[2001-05 McCormack] - RCC. 2 boys.WBBM, ~ January 23, 2006
CHICAGO (IL), (CBS) -- Parishioners stand behind a local Catholic priest accused of fondling two little boys, but it could be a whole different story when he has his day in court.
Father Daniel McCormack is scheduled for arraignment today, and some of his own words may be scrutinized.
The 37-year-old priest was arrested Friday for allegedly fondling two young boys over the past several years, stunning members and employees of the West Side church.
"He was a nice guy," said St. Agatha employee Nikki Lewis. "I would have never expected it."
"A good, caring person" is how many parishioners at Chicago's St. Agatha's Church describe McCormack, even as they learn about his arrest for the aggravated criminal sexual abuse. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:41 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Mon January 23, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Irish priest's child exposes celibate myth
- RCC. 147 ladies talk of priestly ardour. Bishop leads group.
BELFAST, Northern Ireland: At least 500 women in Ireland are conducting clandestine affairs with Catholic priests, according to the leader of a support group set up to look after those in forbidden relationships.
An indication of the extent of illicit sexual relationships within the Church was given after it was disclosed that Father Maurice "Mossie" Dillane, 73, had fathered a child with his 31-year-old girlfriend.
Bishop Pat Buckley said an extremely conservative estimate was that one in 10 of the 5000 Catholic priests in Ireland had regular sex with women and some even referred to their clerical collar as the "bird catcher".
Studies had shown that 80 per cent of priests had broken their vows of celibacy on at least one occasion, he said.
Bishop Buckley runs the Bethany organisation in Lame, County Antrim, which he set up to provide support to those in love affairs with the clergy.
Described as Ireland's rebel bishop, Bishop Buckley was sidelined by the Catholic Church in the mid-1980s when he pursued his own ministry for those alienated by the traditional Church.
When statistics were widened to take in homosexuals, Bishop Buckley said up to 40 per cent of Catholic clergy in Ireland were sexually active.
Counselling sessions organised by Bethany have disclosed that several women were unwittingly having sex with the same priest.
The Church's hierarchy was prepared to turn a blind eye to sexual indiscretion because it was widespread.
"Bishops are caught between Rome and the priests and, of course, some of the bishops are in same position (having relationships)," Bishop Buckley said.
"From the top down, it is hypocritical. We are preaching compulsory celibacy, but very few are living it."
He said he had met 147 women who had joined Bethany in order to share their stories of adultery and priestly promiscuity.
Romances between an understanding man of God and an unloved wife were common, as were priests and their housekeepers secretly living together as man and wife while relationships between priests and nuns were unofficially known as the "third way" by the Church.
Bishop Buckley said Father Dillane and the mother of his child had nothing to be ashamed of and urged them to come out of the safe houses where they have been hiding since news of their relationship swept through Ireland.
The Catholic Church in Ireland declined to comment on Bishop Buckley's claims. #
[RECAPITULATION: ... [They] had nothing to be ashamed of ... RECAP. ENDS.]
[COMMENT: Well, that's not standard Christianity! On the other hand, leaders who recruit immature boys and men, and take celibacy promises from them, ought to be ashamed!
An older Irish case, of a "Father in God" who became a father in 1975, is Bishop Eamon Casey. His story has been in the news again lately over an unproved allegation of sex abuse. Bishop Casey has been operating as an RC clergyman in England, but now plans to retire to Ireland. Read this newsitem: "Casey's accuser made similar unproven claims against others," Irish Times, www.ireland. com/newspaper/ front/2005/1201/ 4158780278 HM1CASEY.html , by Patsy McGarry, ~ November 30, 2005, and later ones. COMMENT ENDS.]
[GUIDELINES:- Bible, Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis 2:18; Christian Greek Scriptures: Matthew 19:4-6, 1 Corinthians 7:2, 7:9, Hebrews 13:4, 1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Timothy 4:3, Titus 1:6. GUIDELINES END.]
[MORE STUDY: For fuller explanations, see: Celibacy Crept ..., Nonmarital Carnal ... and scroll to page 2, "Called to Love and Faithfulness," and Fathers would make the best 'Fathers'. ENDS.] [Jan 23, 06]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tue January 24, 2006 edition follows:-
• Witnesses testify LA priest snared them in web of molestation
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.
The Press-Enterprise, By LINDA DEUTSCH, The Associated Press, ~ January 24, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- A succession of grown men testified Tuesday that ex-priest Michael Wempe trapped them in a web of sexual molestation that began in their childhoods and continues to shadow their lives today.
Pointing across the courtroom where the former Roman Catholic clergyman was seated at the counsel table, on trial for molestation, prosecutor Todd Hicks asked a witness identified only as Jay F. how he knew Wempe.
"From a nightmare," said the 39-year-old man.
At one point, staring at Wempe, he said bitingly: "This guy is so sick."
He graphically outlined a pattern of molestation that involved fondling, masturbation and oral copulation that began when he was 13 and also ensnared two of his brothers. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:48 PM]
• Irish victims' group demands Bishop Casey apologize
[1975 Casey] - RCC. Fathered a child.
Catholic World News, Jan. 24, 2006
IRELAND (CWNews.com) - An Irish group serving rape victims has demanded a public apology by Bishop Eamonn Casey, saying that the bishop abused his position when he conducted an affair with a woman who bore his child.
The Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) points out that Bishop Casey's affair with Annie Murphy began when the woman "was in Ireland to recover from a painfully personal experience." The group charges that the bishop betrayed her confidence by his "misuse of position and neglect of duty of care." Thus the affair was "not a private matter between two cosenting adults."
"While the RCNI would not wish to deny Father (sic) Eamonn Casey release from exile," the group said, "we do think that an acknowledgment or even recognition of the wrong doing is required."
• Gumbleton's disclosure underscores differences between survivors, bishops
- RCC. Bishop Gumbleton pro and con.
National Catholic Reporter, By GREG BULLOUGH, ~ January 24, 2006
UNITED STATES -- I'm a fan of Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton. There isn't much on which we disagree. His curriculum vitae reads like an encyclopedia of social justice.
When he broke with his brother bishops and supported the right of a clergy abuse survivor to a day in civil court, I joined fellow survivors' advocates in saying "Hooray!"
When he disclosed that as a teenage seminary student, a priest had sexually abused him (NCR, Jan. 20), I admired his courage.
I nonetheless find aspects of his revelation disquieting.
It pains me to criticize how an abuse survivor handles his experience. Then again, this particular abuse survivor has been a priest for 50 years and a bishop for 38. He was at Dallas in 2002.
In that light, it is my hope that both Bishop Gumbleton and my fellow advocates and survivors will indulge me. I acknowledge that young Tommy Gumbleton, and His Excellency Thomas Gumbleton, auxiliary of Detroit, are the same person but for time. The choices made by the public figure call for comment.
The bishop declined to name the deceased criminal.
• Crisis talks over arrested priest
[Herve*] - Church of England. Child.Birmingham Mail By Mark Cowan, Jan 23 2006
UNITED KINGDOM -- EDUCATION chiefs were due to meet this week to discuss the future of a parish priest who was arrested on suspicion of raping a child.
Honorary Canon, Father John Herve, was arrested after allegations of "rape and gross indecency with a person under 16" were made against him.
The Mail revealed on Saturday that the Church of England clergyman has been suspended from his duties by the Diocese of Birmingham, in a "neutral act" while the police investigation is conducted.
Fr John is head of the board of governors at Ladypool Primary School where pervert teaching assistant Mark Smith was last week jailed for grooming a schoolgirl.
• Cold, hard facts best myth slayers
[2006 The Tidings] - RCC. Pretending bishops don't move seducers from place to place.National Catholic Reporter, ~ January 24, 2006
UNITED STATES -- In as convoluted a piece of reasoning as we've seen in a long time, The Tidings, official newspaper of the Los Angeles archdiocese, declares in its Jan. 13 issue that "the belief that bishops moved child abusers from parish to parish, allowing them to abuse over and over, may well be one of the greatest myths created by the press coverage of the sexual abuse scandal in the church." A Jan. 13 article points out, "Bishops did not generally move abusing clergy around because they were very often not aware of the abuse taking place."
Now that's quite a sentence. Let's try to pick it apart: Bishops did not transfer priests they did not suspect of molesting children. To which the only logical response is … huh?
The more relevant question, of course, is how many priests known or suspected by their bishops of having abused children were whisked away from one parish (lest their activities result in scandal) only to show up running the CYO or training altar servers in another? The answer, and this is no myth, is a whole lot.
It gets worse.
• Closing arguments in trial of Geoghan's alleged killer
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's death. [30yrs Geoghan] - RCC. 150 boys.The Boston Globe, By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press Writer | January 24, 2006
WORCESTER, Mass. --Jurors began deliberations Tuesday in the murder trial of a prison inmate accused of killing pedophile priest John Geoghan in his cell.
The jury of five women and seven men got the case following more than two weeks of testimony that centered largely on whether Joseph Druce was insane when he beat and strangled Geoghan, a central figure in the clergy sex abuse scandal that started in Boston.
The prosecutor said in his closing argument earlier Tuesday that Druce was a calculating and conniving killer who planned the murder for weeks so he could be a "big shot" in prison.
But Druce's lawyer said he was severely mentally ill and under the delusion that God had chosen him to kill Geoghan and send a message to pedophiles around the world.
• Druce describes thoughts leading up Geoghan killing
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's death.Daily News Tribune, By Denise Lavoie, Tuesday, January 24, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- Killing pedophile priest John Geoghan was something he was "driven" to do, inmate Joseph Druce testified yesterday at his murder trial.
Drupe told a rapt jury that he believed he had to kill Geoghan to stop him from molesting more children.
"I had seen myself as the designated individual who had to put a stop to the pedophilia in the church," he said.
Druce is using an insanity defense in the Aug. 23, 2003, killing of Geoghan, a defrocked priest who was at the center of the clergy sex abuse scandal.
But prosecutors say Druce's careful planning of the killing for more than a month shows he was not insane.
During an aggressive cross-examination, prosecutor Lawrence Murphy repeatedly pressed Druce about the level of planning involved in the killing. He told investigators he had planned to kill Geoghan for five weeks.
But Druce repeated that he was "driven" to do it.
• Prosecutor: Priest chose victims carefully for molestation
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.Monterey County Herald, By LINDA DEUTSCH, Associated Press, ~ January 24, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- The priest chose his molestation victims carefully - youngsters from poor, dysfunctional families, groups of brothers so deprived of attention and material things that they could be easily manipulated, a prosecutor said.
The boys were drawn to Michael Wempe, the "hip" priest who wore his hair long, rode a motorcycle and gave such dynamic sermons that people followed him from parish to parish to hear him speak, Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks told a jury Monday in opening statements at the former Catholic priest's trial.
But he added, "The defendant had a dark side. He wanted to touch boys and enjoy it. ... His lifestyle was preach on Sunday, molest Monday through Friday and pray on Saturday."
Wempe's attorney, Leonard Levine, did not dispute in his opening statement accusations that the ex-priest might have abused boys over a 15-year period beginning in 1972. But he added that Wempe is not guilty of the crime with which he is charged, molesting another boy in the 1990s.
• Church's suit continues
[Holy Cross Church] - RCC. Preventing free assembly and protest.Albany Times Union, By CAROL DeMARE, Tuesday, January 24, 2006
ALBANY (NY) -- Although a decision was issued last week restricting attorney John Aretakis and others who are protesting outside a Catholic church, the case is not over.
More hearings are expected in the near future in the lawsuit brought by Holy Cross Church in an attempt to curtail demonstrators who have shown up during Sunday services since May.
In an interim ruling Friday, state Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo extended a temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction.
The injunction continues to keep protesters 100 feet away from church entrances. It will remain in effect until the lawsuit is concluded and a final order is issued.
• Ex-Priest Charged With Eight Sex Acts On A Child
[1984-96 Baker] - RCC. 8 acts. Boy.CBS 2, ~ January 24, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA), (AP) -- Michael Stephen Baker, a former Roman Catholic priest who was arrested on his return from Asia last week, has been charged in Los Angeles with eight sex acts on a child.
Michael Stephen Baker made a brief court appearance today but his arraignment was put off until February 14th. Bail was set at $800,000.
Baker was removed from the priesthood by the Los Angeles Archdiocese in 2000.
In 2003, the district attorney's office charged Baker with 34 counts of molestation on six victims, but those charges were dismissed because of the U-S Supreme Court's ruling that year involving the statute of limitations on child abuse cases.
• Subpoenaed -- Again
- RCC. Vatican "star" giving evidence, subpoenaed again.San Francisco Weekly, By Ron Russell and Nate Cavalieri, Article Published Jan 18, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO (CA) -- Former San Francisco Archbishop William J. Levada's visit to the city last week created the kind of media stir that the powerful Roman Catholic prelate may have preferred to skip.
And he did, mostly.
Avoiding a phalanx of TV cameras, Levada ducked into a side door of the Sansome Street office tower where he was deposed by attorneys for alleged clergy sex abuse victims who have sued the Archdiocese of Portland, where Levada was archbishop from 1986 to 1995.
The media herd was in front of the building expecting to get a look at Levada -- it was his first trip here since being named by Pope Benedict XVI to a top Vatican post last August.
Despite a daylong TV news stakeout, the newly appointed prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith eluded reporters upon leaving the premises (again using a side door) seven hours later.
But he couldn't dodge a determined process server.
"It was really a piece of cake," says Anthony Piscitelli, who presented Levada with a subpoena to appear for yet another deposition in San Francisco in March -- this one on behalf of an attorney for a Marin County woman who has sued the San Francisco Archdiocese alleging she was sexually abused by a priest during Levada's tenure as archbishop here.
• Perv Skips Jail
[2002 Byrns] - RCC. Altar boy.New York Post, By ALEX GINSBERG, January 24, 2006
NEW YORK -- A Catholic priest on trial for sexually abusing an 11-year-old altar boy made a last-minute deal yesterday -- pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of child endangerment to avoid jail time.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Robert Collini, clearly exasperated with the offer, signed off on the pact, but made clear he would have preferred that the Rev. Joseph Byrns, 63, do time behind bars.
"Were there to be an offer by the court, this would not be the offer," Collini said.
But he nonetheless took the plea from Byrns, who admitted only that he endangered the boy's welfare sometime between March and April 2002 at St. Rose of Lima Church in Kensington.
• Protect kids by opening statute of limitations
[RCC] - RCC. Avoiding prosecutions.The Detroit News, by Deb Price, January 23, 2006
MICHIGAN -- Their fathers sexually abused them. Their families covered it up, warned them not to tell and made them feel dirty, even to blame for what had happened.
As the four middle-aged women told state Rep. Paul Condino, D-Southfield, well into adulthood they continued to feel horrible about themselves and angry that their abusers had never been punished.
"I'm a fairly strong guy, and I had tears in my eyes," Condino recalls of the breakfast meeting a year ago that prompted him to introduce legislation to change Michigan's statute of limitations on civil lawsuits: Currently, abuse victims must sue by age 19. Condino would allow those of any age to sue during a two-year "window" after the bill's passage. After that, victims could sue until age 38.
"I don't know how anyone could listen to those kinds of stories and think that the current system in working," the lawmaker says.
Unfortunately, the Catholic Church doesn't want people to listen to those kinds of stories, some of which would focus yet more attention on abuse by priests. The primary opposition to Condino's much-needed legislative remedy is coming from the Catholic Church. A statement by the Archdiocese of Detroit claims that the current limits on suits by abuse victims have "served our society well in protecting the rights of everyone."
"The Catholic Church's primary concern appears to be how much it might cost them and what further bad PR they'd get, rather than the good that could come for the victims who would finally get a chance to tell what happened to them and have their community say, 'That was wrong,' " says Condino, who was raised Catholic.
• Benham had DCFS status
- RCC. [1977-79 Benham] - Seduced, then got child certificate. Girl and boy. [1979 onwards Washington Archdiocese] - Knowingly transferred Benham.Lincoln Courier, BY JAMES WASHBURN, January 23, 2006
ILLINOIS -- Before being convicted of sex offenses, Francis Benham became a certified child care provider for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and kept boys in his Lincoln home during weekends to provide relief for foster parents.
Benham was to be released Sunday from the Prince George's County Correctional Center in Maryland where he served 10 months in jail for sexually assaulting and abusing a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy from 1977 to 1979 while he was a priest at a Catholic church in Maryland.
DCFS personnel may not have known of Benham's criminal past because charges against Benham were not reported to police until 2004 when the 13-year-old female victim came forward
Investigators have said the Washington, D.C., archdiocese knew of the allegations in 1979 and transferred Benham to Columbus, Ohio, where he worked for two Catholic churches as a non-parish minister from 1979 to 1987, when he moved to Lincoln.
Lincoln police spent about three months last year investigating local allegations of sex crimes after Deborah Denney, 45, who had a five-year business relationship with the 69-year-old former priest, told police Benham may have committed sex crimes locally, Lincoln police detective Paul Adams said today.
• Former Priest Accused Of Molesting Boy In 1994, 1995
[1994-95 Baker] - RCC. Boy.NBC 4, POSTED 5:42 pm PST, January 23, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- A former Catholic priest who avoided prosecution in an earlier child sex-abuse case appeared in court Monday in connection with new charges alleging that he molested a boy in 1994 and 1995.
Michael Stephen Baker, 58, of Long Beach, was arrested Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport after returning from Thailand and other countries.
Baker was charged Monday with eight felony counts of oral copulation of a person under 18. He appeared in court Monday afternoon, but his arraignment was delayed until Feb. 14 at the request of his attorney, Donald Steier.
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner James Bianco set bond at $800,000.
• Local clergy oppose audit legislation
- Unitarian Universalist Church, and RCC. Trying to keep clerical finances secret.Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), By Kathleen A. Shaw, kshaw@telegram.com , ~ January 24, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- The Rev. Aaron R. Payson, pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, said yesterday proposed legislation to require religious institutions to file financial audits and reports to the state is a violation of the separation of church and state and will put undue hardship on small religious congregations.
Rev. Payson is among local clergy who oppose Senate Bill 1074, which will come for a hearing before the House of Representatives at 1 p.m. tomorrow at the Statehouse. Several local clergy have been contacting area legislators to present their views on the bill, according to Frank T. Kartheiser of Worcester Interfaith.
Bishop Robert J. McManus of the Catholic Diocese of Worcester has also asked people in the diocese's 126 parishes to contact legislators to oppose the bill. The bill is also opposed by the Massachusetts Catholic Conference and the Massachusetts Council of Churches. ...
Ms. Walsh, who sponsored the bill, appears to be motivated by concerns within her own religious tradition, Rev. Payson said. Ms. Walsh, a Roman Catholic, has been frustrated by the lack of public financial accountability by the Boston Archdiocese. Rev. Payson said laws already exist to deal with the issues in the Catholic church raised by Ms. Walsh. She could have gone to Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly and asked for an investigation, he said.
• Romney may veto religious funds bill
[Governor] - Switch to opposing financial openness.The Boston Globe, By Frank Phillips | January 24, 2006
BOSTON (MA) -- Governor Mitt Romney signaled yesterday that he is likely to oppose a bill requiring religious institutions to disclose their finances, creating a major hurdle for advocates of the legislation who must gain a veto-proof vote in the House to guarantee that it becomes law.
The governor's comment caught supporters of the bill off guard, particularly since Romney had appeared to support the measure last August. Romney's comment also comes as supporters engage in a fierce political struggle on Beacon Hill over the legislation with the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and other religious denominations. Opponents say the measure violates religious freedoms and puts undue financial burdens on churches, particularly smaller denominations. ...
Some lawmakers and lay Catholics have demanded more information about the financial health and holdings of the Boston Archdiocese as it settled civil suits from the clergy sexual abuse crisis and launched a sweeping reconfiguration of parishes.
The bill is scheduled to be considered by the House tomorrow. After Romney's remarks, sponsors of the bill, sensing a shift in the political dynamics around the measure, immediately asked for a meeting with the governor. Supporters of the bill say they believe they have a majority of representatives, but not the necessary two-thirds to override a gubernatorial veto. The Senate passed the bill by a wide margin last fall.
• Victim Testifies at Priest's Trial
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.Los Angeles Times, By Jean Guccione, ~ January 24, 2006
CALIFORNIA - The priest took him, a poor boy from a troubled Antelope Valley family, on a motorcycle trip to Hearst Castle, on water and snow skiing outings and to high school golf tournaments.
At the rectory at St. Elizabeth's Mission in Lake Hughes, the boy sat with Father Michael Edwin Wempe and the other priests, eating foods he'd never tasted before. Wempe even gave him an ATM card, warning him to limit withdrawals to $20 a day.
"As an adult, when I think about it, I feel like I prostituted myself. I feel disgusted," the former altar boy, now 40, told jurors Monday, describing the prelude to five years of molestations by the former priest.
Wempe, 66, is on trial for allegedly molesting a boy at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where Cardinal Roger M. Mahony assigned him in the 1990s after a stint of therapy triggered by an earlier sexual misconduct report.
Wempe has admitted through his lawyer to abusing 13 other boys, including the St. Elizabeth's altar boy, but denies the current charges. Wempe was originally charged with earlier abuse cases as well, but they were thrown out when the Supreme Court in 2003 barred retroactive prosecution for decades-old molestations.
• Sex abuse detailed as priest's trial begins
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.LA Daily News, By Brad A. Greenberg, ~ January 24, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- Retired priest Michael Wempe had a formula for The Seduction.
He searched for weak families, with boys needing a father figure. After winning the mother's trust, he would take her son camping or motorcycle riding or to fire rifles in the woods. First it was with a group, but soon he sought alone time.
Then he began the fondling, which culminated in molestation.
That model was outlined Monday by prosecutors as Wempe's molestation trial got under way in Los Angeles Superior Court - a pattern that even Wempe's attorney conceded.
"He violated the trust of a priest and the decency of any person by molesting numerous children," defense attorney Leonard Levine said. "For that, there is no excuse, there is no explanation and there is no defense. And none will be offered."
What will be offered, Levine said, is evidence that Wempe did not molest the man who has accused him of abuse during the early 1990s. Wempe faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted of five counts of molestation.
• Judge cuts priest no slack
[2001-05 McCormack] - RCC. 2 boys.Chicago Sun-Times, BY DAN ROZEK AND STEFANO ESPOSITO, Staff Reporters, January 24, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- A priest accused of molesting two boys at a parish on Chicago's West Side appeared for the first time Monday in an open courtroom, but he said nothing, letting his attorney do the talking.
As soon as the brief hearing ended, Daniel McCormack, 37, left the 26th and California courthouse, walking briskly past a cluster of reporters, before getting into a car waiting at the bottom of the courthouse steps.
McCormack -- dressed neatly in navy pants, a blue shirt and tie and a short gray jacket -- stood in court beside his attorney, Patrick Reardon, who asked Judge Douglas Simpson to modify the conditions of McCormack's pretrial release so that the priest could have contact with his nieces and nephews. Simpson refused.
Last week, another judge set bail at $200,000 for McCormack and ordered that he have no contact with the victims, their families or anyone under the age of 18.
• Despite accusation, priest kept his job
[2001-05 McCormack] - RCC. 2 boys.Chicago Tribune, By Jeff Coen and Charles Sheehan, Tribune staff reporter. (Tribune staff reporter David Heinzmann and religion reporter Margaret Ramirez contributed to this report), January 24, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- The Chicago Catholic Archdiocese learned in August of a sexual abuse allegation against a West Side priest and assigned another priest to monitor his contact with children, but it allowed him to remain at his parish until last week, church officials said.
The family making the accusation alerted the archdiocese, which then turned the allegation against Rev. Daniel J. McCormack over to the Cook County state's attorney's office, according to law enforcement sources. Investigators could not find enough evidence to file charges until last week, when a second child came forward with a separate allegation, authorities said.
In the intervening four months, church officials allowed McCormack to continue running the parish.
According to church guidelines, the archdiocese could have removed McCormack from ministry while the case was investigated, but the church officials decided that was not necessary, said Archdiocese Chancellor James Lago.
• Allegations against newly charged priest first surfaced in August
[2001-05 McCormack*] - RCC. 2 boys.Belleville News-Democrat, Associated Press, ~ January 24, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) - Archdiocese of Chicago officials say allegations first were made in August against a Roman Catholic priest charged last week with sexual abuse, but the initial accusations weren't enough to remove him from his parish.
The archdiocese instead assigned another priest to monitor the Rev. Daniel McCormack's contact with children while law enforcement authorities investigated.
McCormack was suspended and removed from St. Agatha Church last week following separate allegations by a second child, said archdiocese spokeswoman Colleen Dolan. He was charged Saturday with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Archdiocese Chancellor James Lago said officials did not have enough information in August to take further action.
Authorities "indicated to us that they were doing an investigation," Lago told the Chicago Tribune. "We were trying to get specific information (about the allegations) but we had none when we restricted his duties."
Church guidelines say the archdiocese could have removed McCormack from ministry while the case was investigated, but Lago said church officials decided that wasn't necessary. The guidelines also offer the option of a monitor to limit an accused priest's contact with children.
• Priest faces new charges
[1972-73 Condon*] - RCC. Boy.The Post and Courier, BY NOAH HAGLUND, ~ January 24, 2006
SOUTH CAROLINA -- A suspended Catholic priest was charged Monday with molesting a boy more than three decades ago at a Sullivan's Island church while the boy was 12 and 13 years old, authorities said.
Sullivan's Island police began investigating the Rev. Eugene Luke Condon in September, after a man told them the priest abused him as a child during the summers of 1972 and 1973, Chief Danny Howard said.
Warrants accuse Condon, now 76, of sharing a beer with the boy and molesting him at the Stella Maris Catholic Church at 1204 Middle St. in 1972, and then molesting him again after a church service in 1973.
Condon turned himself over to authorities Monday morning. He left jail after posting $55,000 bail on two charges of committing a lewd act on a minor and one charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, warrants state.
• Druce tells jury of inner torment
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's death. [30yrs Geoghan] - RCC. 150 boys.Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), By Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , ~ January 24, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- Joseph L. Druce told a jury yesterday he killed ex-priest John J. Geoghan to "make a statement" that child molesters would be held accountable, and to relieve the inner torment he was experiencing as a result of being sexually abused, himself, as a young boy.
"I couldn't get the thoughts out of my mind about being molested, myself," Mr. Druce testified in Worcester Superior Court, after acknowledging he beat and strangled the 68-year-old defrocked priest on the morning of Aug. 23, 2003, in Mr. Geoghan's prison cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.
"Was I going to be the savior of the kids? Yeah," Mr. Druce said in response to questions posed by his lawyer, John H. LaChance, who has raised an insanity defense on his client's behalf.
The defense contends Mr. Druce, now 40, was mentally ill at the time of the slaying and lacked criminal responsibility for his actions.
Assistant District Attorney Lawrence J. Murphy contends Mr. Druce was legally sane when he took the former priest's life and should be found guilty of murder.
Mr. Druce's fate is expected to be in the jury's hands by this afternoon.
At the time of the killing, which occurred in a protective custody unit at the maximum-security prison on the Lancaster-Shirley line, Mr. Druce was serving a life sentence for the 1988 murder of a North Shore man. Mr. Geoghan, accused in civil lawsuits of molesting more than 100 boys while a priest in Boston-area parishes, was serving a sentence of 9 to 10 years for sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy.
Testifying in his own defense yesterday, Mr. Druce said he was "freaked out" after overhearing Mr. Geoghan and other convicted sex offenders talking about child molestation.
He said he also overheard Mr. Geoghan on the telephone talking about going to South America once he was released from custody to work as a missionary with children.
Mr. Druce told the jury he saw himself as "the designated individual that had to put a stop to the pedophilia in the church."
"I thought the pope would give me absolution for resolving the problem," he testified.
Mr. Druce also alleged David Lonergan, a correction officer on duty in the protective custody unit on the day of the killing, had advance knowledge he planned to enter Mr. Geoghan's cell and beat him, but did not know he was going to kill the ex-priest. Officer Lonergan vehemently denied that charge in his earlier testimony.
Under cross-examination by Mr. Murphy, Mr. Druce rejected the prosecutor's suggestions the crime was carefully planned and carried out.
"There was no planning. It was contemplating. I had to stop him," Mr. Druce said of his victim. "There was no planning. I was driven. I had to do what I had to do. He was a sick, degenerate pedophile who molested hundreds of kids," he said.
Psychiatrist Martin Kelly testified as a rebuttal witness for the prosecution after Mr. LaChance rested his case yesterday.
Dr. Kelly, who was hired by the prosecution to evaluate Mr.Druce, told the jury the confessed killer was criminally responsible for the prison slaying.
Although he appears to suffer from an anti-social personality disorder, Mr. Druce had the "substantial capacity" to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct and to conform his behavior to the requirements of the law when he took Mr. Geoghan's life, Dr. Kelly said.
Dr. Kelly's testimony conflicted with that of Dr. Keith Ablow, an expert witness for the defense, who said Mr. Druce was suffering from multiple mental illnesses when he killed Mr. Geoghan, and lacked criminal responsibility.
Dr. Kelly testified for the prosecution in Mr. Druce's 1989 murder trial, in which he raised an unsuccessful insanity defense to a charge of murdering a man who allegedly made a sexual advance toward him after picking up Mr. Druce, who was hitchhiking. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:18 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Tue January 24, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Brothers, orphans contest will; Legacy ignites legal battle over benefactor's wish to help the former residents of the Bindoon Boys' Town [1949-2006 - Christian Brothers] - RCC. Catherine Musk will. Not one orphan farm.
The West Australian, By GARY ADSHEAD, p 9, Tuesday, January 24, 2006
PERTH, W. Australia: A will which dates back almost 60 years is about to reignite the fierce battle between the Catholic Church's Christian Brothers order and the men who were abused as orphaned child migrants at the Brothers' farming property near Bindoon.
Lawyers acting for the Brothers have applied to the Supreme Court for permission to scrap the wishes attached to the will and for full access to the remaining $167,000 being held in a trust account.
... a group of Christian Brothers orphans, who were used as child labour to build the Boys' Town property, have launched a counter claim for the money.
... when wealthy widow Catherine Musk signed over more than £40,000 to the Christian Brothers in her 1947 will she wanted the money used to set the orphans up on their own farms.
Instead, the money was only ever used to buy stock and equipment for the farm at Bindoon where orphans suffered terrible physical and mental abuse at the hands of some of the Christian Brothers who ran it. [...]
|
Legacy ignites legal battle over benefactor's wish to help the former residents of the Bindoon Boys' Town Brothers, orphans contest will
A will which dates back almost 60 years is about to reignite the fierce battle between the Catholic Church's Christian Brothers order and the men who were abused as orphaned child migrants at the Brothers' farming property near Bindoon.
Lawyers acting for the Brothers have applied to the Supreme Court for permission to scrap the wishes attached to the will and for full access to the remaining $167,000 being held in a trust account. But in a bid to torpedo the court application, a group of Christian Brothers orphans, who were used as child labour to build the Boys' Town property, have launched a counter claim for the money. They argue that when wealthy widow Catherine Musk signed over more than £40,000 to the Christian Brothers in her 1947 will she wanted the money used to set the orphans up on their own farms. Instead, the money was only ever used to buy stock and equipment for the farm at Bindoon where orphans suffered terrible physical and mental abuse at the hands of some of the Christian Brothers who ran it. "Mrs Musk was a very kind-hearted lady and she left what was a bloody fortune back then to help us boys," former Boys' Town resident Lionel "Geordie" Welsh said. "Her good intentions were abused by the Christian Brothers. They went against the spirit of her will and with the help of her funds they took away our childhoods, they destroyed many of us mentally and now they want to take the remaining money without talking about its real purpose." A copy of Mrs Musk's will reveals that her clear intentions for the money was to help the orphans of Bindoon to become farmers. [Picture] Complaint: Former Boys' Town residents, from left, Chris McAdam, Tony Hardinon, Frederick Cracker, Alan Lacey, Robert Hall, Brian Bevon, Laurie Humphreys, John Watson, Bill O'Connor, John Murphy, Gordon Grant and Lionel Welsh with lawyer Leonard Cohen, who has represented them. Picture: Guy Magowan Five clauses in the will stipulate that funds should be made available to set the boys up on "farms of their own", to make loans to them "interest free", "to enable them to carry on farming operations" and for boys to buy their own "plant and/or stock". Mrs Musk was adamant that none of the money should be used by the Brothers to construct buildings on the Boys' Town site. But there was a direction in the will which the Brothers have relied upon since Mrs Musk's death in 1949 to avoid spending any of the funds to establish boys on their own farms. It allowed the Christian Brothers to use money from her estate to develop Boys' Town "by way of pasture improvement, growing of crops, purchase of stock and plant and general agricultural operations". ‘These boys were denied a proper education by the Christian Brothers -- some still can't read or write properly. ’ LAWYER LEONARD COHEN The will said it was for the Boys' Town principal to direct whether the money would be used for "all or any" of the purposes Mrs Musk had listed. Once Mrs Musk was dead the Brothers ruled out setting the boys up on farms because of advice which said it was not economically viable. Now the Christian Brothers have asked the court to forgive any previous breaches of the trust instructions and want to use the remaining money to award scholarships to teenagers whose parents cannot afford to send their children to Bindoon where the Brothers now run a commercial agricultural college. Lawyer Leonard Cohen, who has represented victims of the Christian Brothers for more than a decade, told The West Australian using the money in this way was an insult. "These boys were denied a proper education by the Christian Brothers -- some still can't read or write properly -- and by spending it now on scholarships doesn't sit well with them," he said. "It means the Brothers still benefit indirectly by getting the fees through their scholarship money and that the good intentions of Mrs Musk are still being bypassed." The orphans want the money used to assist financially with any needy cases involving former Boys' Town residents. But WA's Christian Brothers leader Kevin Ryan said there was already a program in place for that purpose. "We are making an application to fulfil the wishes of Mrs Musk in a contemporary setting," he told The West Australian. "I am sure she would be as disappointed as we are with the behaviour of particular Brothers in particular times in relation to a particular number of boys." A court hearing is expected next month. [Picture] Boys' Town: The Christian Brothers' Bindoon site at the centre of the legal fight with former residents is now run as a commercial agricultural college. # |
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wed January 25, 2006 edition follows:-
• Man guilty of abuse priest murder
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's murder. [30yrs Geoghan] - RCC. 150 boys.
BBC News, http://news. bbc.co.uk/2/ hi/americas/ 4648952.stm , ~ January 25, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- A US prison inmate has been convicted of murdering a former priest at the heart of a sex abuse scandal in Boston.
Joseph Druce killed defrocked clergyman John Geoghan in August 2003 while they were held in a Massachusetts prison.
Druce, 40 and already serving life for another murder, had admitted strangling Geoghan, saying he wanted to avenge children who had been sexually abused.
The jury in Massachusetts rejected his defence of insanity, finding him guilty of first-degree murder. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:23 PM]
• Jury foreman says there was "sympathy" for priest killer
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's murder.ABC 6, www.abc6.com/ engine.pl? station=wl ne&id=18795 &template= breakout_ story_local_ news.shtml& dateformat=% 25M+%25e,%25Y ; January 25,2006
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - The foreman of the jury that convicted Joseph Druce of murder in the death of a pedophile priest says there was a degree of "sympathy" among the panel.
Druce was found guilty today in the strangulation of pedophile priest John Geoghan in 2003, despite an insanity defense mounted by his lawyers.
Jury foreman Thomas Wiegand, a retired Holy Cross administrator, says the jury had sympathy for Druce after hearing the descriptions of his troubled childhood and sexual abuse.
Wiegand says he felt a (quote) "sadness that a life was lost early," referring to Druce.
The jury foreman also cited what he believes are the failings of a system that pushes drugs and not therapy.
• Pervert vicar, 84, is jailed
[1973-81 Evans] - ? C of E. Boy.
The Manchester Evening News, by Seb Ramsey, ~ January 25, 2006
UNITED KINGDOM -- AN 84-year-old parish priest who systematically abused a teenage boy is starting a 10-month prison sentence today.
Richard Evans, of Edge Lane, Droylsden, was jailed at Manchester Crown Court after a judge said he had "groomed and abused" a teenager from the age of 13 for his "own sexual gratification".
His victim, who is now in his 40s, was assaulted in St John's Church, Ashley Lane, Moston, where Evans was the vicar until 1991.
Evans pleaded guilty to three specimen charges of 18 counts of indecent assault that were brought as a result of his behaviour between 1973 and 1981.
• I want to come home
[Bishop Casey] - RCC. Fathered a child.
The Irish Post, By Jon Myles, ~ January 25, 2006
IRELAND -- CONTROVERSIAL ex-bishop Eamonn Casey is set to return to Ireland from Britain 14 years after fleeing the country following revelations he had fathered a son with a middle-aged divorcee.
The 78-year-old cleric is preparing to finally face the people of Galway for the first time after deciding to leave his posting in Sussex and see out his retirement at home.
It will be his first public appearance in Ireland since details of his relationship with Annie Murphy sent shockwaves through the Catholic Church in Ireland.
But he is first waiting to hear from gardaí over an investigation into sexual abuse c l a i m s m a d e against him by a woman last November.
Dr Casey vigorously denied the allegations and is believed to want the matter cleared up before he moves back to Ireland. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:31 AM]
• Witnesses tell of childhood sex abuse in trial of LA priest
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 males.
The Mercury News, By LINDA DEUTSCH, Associated Press, ~ January 25, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) - A sad fraternity of handsome, well-spoken men gathered in a courthouse this week to recall through the blur of time and denial what was done to them as children by a now-retired Roman Catholic priest.
Michael Wempe, 66, the gray-haired defendant on trial for molestation, sits quietly watching the witnesses, color rising in his florid face when descriptions from the men he knew as boys become especially graphic.
He has wept once after hearing of the long-term anguish suffered by one.
His lawyer says he has changed, that church-ordered therapy helped him and he is remorseful. The attorney also says Wempe is not guilty of charges by one young man that have brought him to criminal court at last.
• Inmate Convicted of Murdering Defrocked Priest
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's death. [30yrs Geoghan] - RCC. 150 boys.The New York Times, By KATIE ZEZIMA, Published: January 26, 2006
WORCESTER (MA), Jan. 25 — Rejecting an insanity defense, a state jury on Wednesday convicted an inmate of the prison murder of John J. Geoghan, a defrocked priest who was accused of molesting 150 boys. Mr. Geoghan played a central role in the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese here.
Judge Francis R. Fecteau of Worcester District Court sentenced the inmate, Joseph L. Druce, to life in prison without parole, in addition to the life sentence he is serving for another murder.
After the verdict, Mr. Druce told the jury that he had "no hard feelings." Mr. Druce, 40, who had testified that he had been abused as a child, asked after the sentencing that pedophiles be held accountable for their behavior.
During the trial there was no disagreement about what happened at 11:53 a.m. on Aug. 23, 2003, in a protective custody wing at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Mass.
• Witness in LA priest molest trial tells of 'anger and rage'
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 males.The Press-Enterprise, By LINDA DEUTSCH, The Associated Press, ~ January 25, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- A man who claims that as a boy he was molested by now-retired priest Michael Wempe testified Wednesday that he reacted with rage when he heard that charges against the clergyman were dropped due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision and he saw news pictures of a smiling Wempe leaving jail.
"I broke things at the house. I was very upset. I did a lot of crying and I did a lot grieving," the witness identified as Greg J. testified in Wempe's trial on new molestation charges involving another alleged victim.
In testimony Tuesday, Greg J. told the Superior Court jury how Wempe bonded with him, particularly while the priest was his golf coach at a Roman Catholic high school.
Returning to the stand Wednesday, the 39-year-old man said that after the priest left him, "I was very confused about whether I was homosexual" and at the age of 18 he became an alcoholic.
• Summary Box: Joseph Druce convicted of murdering pedophile priest
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's murder.The Boston Globe, The Associated Press | January 25, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- BIG PICTURE: A jury rejected the insanity defense of prison inmate Joseph Druce and found him guilty of murdering defrocked pedophile priest John Geoghan.
THE MOTIVE: Prosecutors claimed Druce killed Geoghan to become a prison big shot.
COURTROOM THEATER: Druce testified God chose him to kill Geoghan, then told jurors, "No hard feelings," after the verdict was read.
• Bill requiring financial disclosures from religious groups defeated
[2006 Politicians] - Only 3 voted for openness.The Boston Globe, By Scott Helman, January 25, 2006
BOSTON (MA) -- The Massachusetts House today soundly defeated legislation that would require religious organizations to file annual financial reports with the state, dealing a major blow to lawmakers who sought to make churches and other institutions more accountable to the public.
By a vote of 147-3, the House shot down the latest in a stream of controversial bills that have come to the floor in recent weeks, including failed legislation to grant in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants and a primary seat belt bill that narrowly passed last week.
The legislation on religious organizations, which prompted fierce lobbying and scores of phone calls and e-mails to legislators, was seen as a major test of the Catholic Church's influence on Beacon Hill. The church was joined by many other religious groups in opposing the bill, saying it was an unwarranted and costly intrusion by the state into the practice of religion.
The bill would have required all religious organizations to file limited information about their finances and real estate holdings annually with the attorney general's charities division, and would have mandated that any organization with annual revenues of more than $500,000 file detailed financial reports every year.
Some lawmakers and lay Catholics have demanded more information about the financial health and holdings of the Boston Archdiocese as it settled civil suits from the clergy sexual abuse crisis and launched a sweeping reconfiguration of parishes.
• Former priest to be paroled after serving 8 1/2 years for sex abuse
[20yrs. Rodrigue] - RCC. 10 altar boys.The Mercury News, Associated Press, ~ January 25, 2006
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A former Roman Catholic priest will be released Wednesday after serving 8 1/2 years of a 10-year sentence for molesting a developmentally disabled boy, his brother said.
Prison officials confirmed that Rodrigue is due to be paroled but had no further details.
Edward Anthony Rodrigue, now 69, will live in a group home along Interstate 215 after his release from a state prison near Corcoran, said Tom Rodrigue, his brother.
Rodrigue worked in parishes in Coachella, Loma Linda, Ontario and in San Diego and Imperial counties until 1981, the last year he was assigned to work in a church. He was ordained in 1962 and was best known to parishioners as "Father Tony."
• Family OK With Perv-Priest Deal
[2000 Byrns] - RCC. Teenage altar boy.New York Post, By MARSHA KRANES, January 25, 2006
NEW YORK -- The family of a former Brooklyn altar boy who testified that a priest had sexually abused him is pleased with the plea deal that let the cleric off with only three years' probation.
"The family is happy" that the Rev. Joseph Byrns "had to accept responsibility for the molestation of their son," said the boy's lawyer, Vidian Mallard.
• Follow the money
- Various religions.The Boston Globe, By Eileen McNamara, Globe Columnist | January 25, 2006
BOSTON (MA) -- If merely feeling burdened were reason enough to avoid paying taxes, state and federal coffers would be empty.
But that is the argument of religious organizations trying to kill legislation that would require churches in Massachusetts to do what every other tax-exempt charity in the state is already obliged to do: open their financial books to the public. The filing fee and accounting costs would be too burdensome, they say.
This is called a smokescreen. ...
O'Malley has managed to convince the state's other religious denominations that they are being drawn into a family squabble among Catholics, many of whom have questions about the source of the millions spent to settle so many sexual abuse cases and the disposition of proceeds from recent sales of church-owned real estate.
This bill is not about payback. It is about accountability. The clergy sexual abuse scandal and the contentious process of closing Catholic parishes highlights the perils of institutional secrecy. But every religious organization owes financial transparency to every donor who drops a dollar in the collection basket or writes a check for the annual appeal. It is just not that big a burden.
• House of candor
- Various religions.The Boston Globe, January 25, 2006
BOSTON (MA) -- A BILL THAT would require religious organizations to disclose basic financial records is a right-minded effort to introduce accountability to an estimated 6,000 public charities that now elude such oversight. Current attempts by religious groups to cast the bill as an entanglement of church and state are misguided at best, and deceptive at worst.
The bill, which is scheduled for debate today in the House, would require churches, mosques, synagogues, and other religious entities to report gross revenues, net assets, fundraising expenses, and other routine information as a condition of their tax-exempt status, identical to the state's roughly 30,000 secular nonprofit organizations. The bill, which has passed the Senate, would also require all charities, both secular and religious, to list real estate holdings as part of their annual financial reports. ...
The birth of the bill is rooted in the recent demands for financial disclose from Catholic parishioners whose churches were slated to be closed or consolidated by the archdiocese. But the need for such transparency is not limited by denomination, and the bill's basic requirements apply equally to all.
• Faith leaders ally against financial disclosure bill
- Various religions.The Boston Globe, By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | January 25, 2006
BOSTON (MA) -- The legislative battle over a proposed requirement that religious denominations and congregations publicly disclose their finances has provoked an unusual development in interfaith relations, with non-Catholic religious leaders expressing public sympathy for Catholics critical of the Archdiocese of Boston even as they find themselves allied with archdiocesan officials on Beacon Hill.
In multiple interviews this week, religious leaders said that they understand why Roman Catholics are frustrated with archdiocesan leadership and that religious institutions, including the archdiocese, should disclose their finances.
But the religious leaders said they will fight in the Legislature, and, if necessary, in the courts against any effort by government to require such disclosure.
"We understand the frustration and the anger of the supporters of the bill and certainly support their efforts to accomplish what they want to accomplish," said Bishop Roy "Bud" Cederholm Jr. of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.
"The bill asks something that the archdiocese needs to do. But people need to work within their own denomination and not look to the government to resolve their own internal issues."
• Druce found guilty of first-degree murder
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's murder. [30yrs Geoghan] - RCC. 150 boys.Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), By Gary V. Murray, January 25, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- A Worcester County jury has convicted Joseph L. Druce of first-degree murder in the 2003 prison slaying of defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan.
The verdict, delivered in Superior Court about 1 p.m., followed more than seven hours of deliberations by the 12-member jury.
Mr. Druce, 40, had sought to have the jury find him not guilty by reason of insanity. He is serving a life sentence for the 1989 slaying of a man who allegedly made a sexual advance toward Mr. Druce after the man picked him up hitchhiking.
Mr. Goeghan killed the former priest on Aug., 23, 2003, after slipping into Mr. Geoghan's cell. In court testimony, Mr. Druce said he killed Mr. Geoghan to prevent him from molesting other children.
With the verdict, of first-degree murder, the jury found that the killing was both premeditated and committed with extreme atrocity. Formal sentencing is scheduled for 3 p.m. today. The charge carries a life sentence.
John H. LaChance, Mr. Druce's lawyer, said he was disappointed by the verdict and also said he would ask that Mr. Druce be transferred to a prison or a secure hospital outside Massachusetts.
Before the verdict, Mr. Druce appeared in court with a black eye. Mr. LaChance told reporters his client related to him that he was assaulted Tueday night at the state prison in Walpole, by "someone employed by the correction department."
According to the lawyer, Mr. Druce said he was pushed, struck on the side of his head and punched in the eye by a man who accompanied him back to his cell in Walpole's 10-block. The alleged assault took place soon after Mr. Druce made a telephone call to Mr. LaChance, according to the lawyer.
Mr. LaChance told reporters Mr. Druce said the assault was unprovoked and that the man who struck him was wearing a T-shirt rather than the traditional uniformed shirt with a name tag. Mr. LaChance said his client also reported that he returned to Walpole from court Tuesday night to find that a small television in his cell had been smashed, his watch stolen and that someone had spat on his bed.
Mr. LaChance said the assault and damage appeared to be "directly related" to testimony Mr. Druce gave of alleged mistreatment by correction officers and his work as a prison informant.
• Witness: former LA priest abused student from sex ed class
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 males.San Francisco Chronicle, By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent, Wednesday, January 25, 2006
CALIFORNIA (AP) -- Former priest Michael Wempe bonded with one of the boys he later molested while teaching a sex education class at a Catholic high school, one of his former students testified.
The alleged victim, now a 39-year-old man identified as Greg J., claimed at Wempe's molestation trial Tuesday that the priest told students in his Paraclete High School class that masturbation was "God's gift to relieve sexual tension" and demonstrated how to do it with hand motions.
Greg J., one of the grown men who told of Wempe's abuse of them as boys, said he bonded with Wempe as a teacher and golf coach.
• Women request priest's records
[1970s, 1990s Nguyen] - RCC. Groped girls.Star-Telegram By DARREN BARBEE, ~ January 25, 2006
FORT WORTH (TX) -- Three women asked a Fort Worth judge Tuesday to unseal the records of a former Arlington priest they accused of sexual misconduct in the 1970s and 1990s.
The women, who are not identified in the lawsuit, joined an ongoing legal effort to open the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese files concerning seven clerics accused of abusing children. A hearing is set next month in state District Judge Len Wade's court to hear the arguments in the case.
In the court filings, two of the women say that the Rev. Joseph Tu Ngoc Nguyen groped them "under the guise of counseling or confession" when they were young adults at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Arlington in the 1990s.
The third, who is now a teacher in Tarrant County, says she was 13 when the conduct occurred in Arlington in the 1970s, according to court documents and the women's attorney.
• Druce guilty in slaying of pedophile priest
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest and seducer Geoghan's murder.The Boston Globe, By Denise Lavoie, AP Legal Affairs Writer | January 25, 2006
WORCESTER, Mass. --A jury on Wednesday found prison inmate Joseph Druce guilty of first-degree murder in the strangulation of pedophile priest John Geoghan, a central figure in Boston's clergy sex abuse scandal.
Druce admitted sneaking into Geoghan's cell in August 2003. He jammed the door shut with a book, then beat and strangled the 68-year-old Geoghan before the guards could stop him.
But Druce claimed he was severely mentally ill and under the delusion that God had chosen him to kill Geoghan and send a message to pedophiles around the world.
Testimony in the case largely centered on whether Druce was insane, or whether the killing was the work of a "calculating" murderer, as prosecutors alleged.
The jury of five women and seven men deliberated for about six hours over two days before reaching the guilty verdict early Wednesday afternoon.
• Druce returns to court with black eye
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's murder.Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), By Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , ~ January 25, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- Jury deliberations in Worcester Superior Court resumed today in the Joseph L. Druce murder trial.
Mr. Druce appeared in court this morning with a black eye. His lawyer John H. LaChance told reporters his client related to him that he was assaulted Tueday night at the state prison in Walpole, by "someone employed by the correction department."
According to the lawyer, Mr. Druce said he was pushed, struck on the side of his head and punched in the eye by a man who accompanied him back to his cell in Walpole's 10-block. The alleged assault took place soon after Mr. Druce made a telephone call to Mr. LaChance, according to the lawyer.
Mr. LaChance told reporters this morning Mr. Druce said the assault was unprovoked and that the man who struck him was wearing a T-shirt rather than the traditional uniformed shirt with a name tag. Mr. LaChance said his client also reported that he returned to Walpole from court Tuesday night to find that a small television in his cell had been smashed, his watch stolen and that someone had spat on his bed.
Mr. LaChance said the assault and damage appeared to be "directly related" to testimony Mr. Druce gave of alleged mistreatment by correction officers and his work as a prison informant.
Mr. Druce has raised an insanity defense to the 2003 prison slaying of defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.
• Accused killer of child-molesting priest returns to court with black eye
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's murder.WAVY, ~ January 25, 2006
WORCESTER, Mass. -- The prison inmate charged with strangling a child-molesting priest has returned to court today with a black eye.
His lawyer says Joseph Druce was beaten yesterday in his cell at the Massachusetts state prison, and he's asking the judge to investigate.
Druce told his lawyer that a man wearing pants from a state Department of Correction uniform hit him on the side of the head and punched him in the eye.
• Church finances sound
- RCC.Denver Post, By Eric Gorski, ~ January 25, 2006
DENVER (CO) -- The Denver Roman Catholic Archdiocese appears to be on sound financial footing at a time when its assets are threatened by clergy sexual-abuse litigation.
The archdiocese operated in the black, enjoyed a successful grassroots fundraising campaign and resembles the picture of stability, according a report issued Tuesday that covers the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2005.
But Archbishop Charles Chaput also pointed out several challenges to the bottom line, including the rising costs of insurance premiums, caring for priests reaching retirement and tending to high schools suffering enrollment declines and cost hikes.
Those are problems that a few U.S. dioceses would envy. Two dioceses - in Portland and Tucson - have filed for bankruptcy as a result of clergy sexual-abuse litigation, and others have been forced to shutter churches.
• High court to resolve deadline disputes
[Cincinnati Archdiocese] - RCC. Denying sue right.The Cincinnati Post, Associated Press, January 25, 2006
COLUMBUS (OH) -- The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to resolve conflicting appeals court decisions on deadlines for filing sexual abuse lawsuits against churches or priests.
Arguments were scheduled for today in a case in which an appeals court ruled against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's attempts to limit filing. Another appeals court previously issued a narrower interpretation that benefited the church.
"The dilemma for the court is trying to find a way where worthy plaintiffs can bring worthy causes of action without completely undermining the rationale behind the statute of limitations," Konrad Kircher, the attorney for one of the "John Doe" plaintiffs, said Tuesday.
Several lawsuits by people who said they were abused as children have accused the Roman Catholic archdiocese and Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of negligently hiring the priests, hiding the abuse and inflicting emotional distress. Most were thrown out based on state laws setting deadlines for filing complaints over sexual abuse of a minor.
• Priest allowed to remain at parish following accusation
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000Chicago Tribune, www.chicago tribune.com/ news/local/ chi-060123 priest,1,769 6356.story? coll=chi- news-hed By Jeff Coen and Charles Sheehan, Published 10:04 PM CST, January 23, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- The Chicago Catholic Archdiocese learned in August of a sexual abuse allegation against a West Side priest and assigned another priest to monitor his contact with children, but it allowed him to remain at his parish until last week, church officials said.
The family making the accusation alerted the archdiocese, which then turned the allegation against Rev. Daniel J. McCormack over to the Cook County state's attorney's office, according to law enforcement sources. Investigators could not find enough evidence to file charges until last week, when a second child came forward with a separate allegation, authorities said.
In the intervening four months, church officials allowed McCormack to continue running the parish.
According to church guidelines, the archdiocese could have removed McCormack from ministry while the case was investigated, but the church officials decided that was not necessary, said Archdiocese Chancellor James Lago.
• Churches say audits would be too costly
[2006 Churches]Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), By Kathleen A. Shaw, kshaw@telegram.com , January 25, 2006
MASSACHUSETTS -- Opposition among Central Massachusetts churches continues to mount against proposed legislation that would require them to report their finances to the state.
Carole L. Kowal, of Spencer First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, said small congregations such as hers are struggling to pay skyrocketing fuel bills and maintain their buildings, and cannot afford the extra expense involved.
She called the proposed bill "well-intentioned" but said it would have unintended consequences for independent and small congregations.
"Imagine the New England landscape dotted with all those white steeples rising over town commons. Now imagine them boarded up and empty because that is where we are headed," Ms. Kowal said.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Marian D. Walsh, D-Boston, arose because of problems Catholics in the Boston archdiocese had when seeking information about the finances of the archdiocese after large payouts were made in the sexual abuse scandal and after the closing of numerous parishes and sell-offs of church property. A hearing on the legislation is scheduled for 1 p.m. today at the Statehouse.
Meanwhile, Gov. Mitt Romney signaled this week that he may veto the bill if it passes, according to The Associated Press.
In remarks on Monday to reporters, Mr. Romney said that while he believes government and society have a responsibility to regulate churches and charities, the measure before the Legislature goes too far.
• Jury begins deliberations in Druce murder trial
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's murder.Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), By Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , January 25, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- Contrasting portraits of confessed killer Joseph L. Druce emerged yesterday during closing arguments in his Worcester Superior Court murder trial.
Defense lawyer John H. LaChance said the evidence presented during seven days of testimony showed his client was mentally ill and lacked criminal responsibility for his actions when he beat and strangled defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan in his prison cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center. Mr. LaChance asked the jurors to find Mr. Druce not guilty by reason of insanity in the Aug. 23, 2003, slaying.
Assistant District Attorney Lawrence J. Murphy said the same evidence proved Mr. Druce was legally sane when he took the 68-year-old Mr. Geoghan's life and supported a conviction for first-degree murder. The prosecutor told the jury in his final summation that a conviction for first-degree murder was warranted because the prison slaying was both premeditated and committed with extreme atrocity or cruelty.
After receiving hourlong instructions on the law from Judge Francis R. Fecteau, the jury of 7 men and 5 women deliberated for about 3-1/2 hours yesterday afternoon without rendering a verdict. Deliberations were scheduled to resume today.
Mr. Druce, now 40, told prison officials, state police and the jury in his case that he killed Mr. Geoghan to prevent him from molesting other children after his release from custody.
A central figure in the sex-abuse scandal that rocked the Boston Archdiocese, Mr. Geoghan was serving a sentence of 9 to 10 years for molesting a 10-year-old boy when Mr. Druce slipped into his cell unnoticed during a lunch break and strangled him with a pair of socks, a sneaker and a pillowcase. Mr. Druce was serving a life sentence imposed in 1989 for the murder of a man who allegedly made a sexual advance toward him after picking him up hitchhiking.
The trial included expert testimony from both sides on the question of Mr. Druce's mental state at the time of the killing. Judge Fecteau told the jury it must decide whether, at the time of the slaying, Mr. Druce suffered from a mental disease or defect that rendered him substantially incapable of either appreciating the wrongfulness of his conduct or of conforming his behavior to the requirements of the law.
A verdict of not guilty by reason of mental illness could result in Mr. Druce's commitment to a state hospital for the criminally insane. The commitment would be subject to periodic court review, but would not wipe out his earlier life sentence with no possibility of parole, a point that Mr. LaChance tried to drive home in his closing argument.
"Tell the truth about what happened, and tell the truth about Joseph Druce," Mr. LaChance urged the jurors. A verdict of not guilty by reason of mental illness would give Mr. Druce a chance to receive the psychiatric treatment "that he's never had before," the defense lawyer said.
Mr. LaChance said his client, who testified that he was sexually abused as a child, was delusional when he took Mr. Geoghan's life and saw himself as "the savior of the children by doing what he did." Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist who testified for the defense, said Mr. Druce was suffering from multiple mental illnesses, including a dissociative disorder, at the time of the killing.
"It's not one of his personas who is on trial, it's Joseph Druce who's on trial," Mr. Murphy said in his closing. Standing before the jury with his arms folded across his chest, the prosecutor described Mr. Druce as a "calculating," manipulative individual who carefully planned the killing of Mr. Geoghan and patiently awaited his opportunity to carry it out.
"He calculated that day, Aug. 23, 2003, and he's still calculating. He's not a seriously mentally ill person," Mr. Murphy said.
Dr. Martin Kelly, a psychiatrist who testified for the prosecution, said Mr. Druce was suffering from an antisocial personality disorder, but was legally sane when the killing occurred.
"A lot of this stuff that he's telling us now is trying to help his own cause," Mr. Murphy said of Mr. Druce.
"He killed John Geoghan because he didn't like pedophiles…What gives him the right to do that? What makes him the executioner?" the prosecutor asked.
The jury's verdict options are not guilty, not guilty by reason of mental illness, guilty of first-degree murder or guilty of second-degree murder.
• Wempe Weeps as Witness Testifies
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 males.Los Angeles Times, By Jean Guccione, January 25, 2006
CALIFORNIA -- Michael Stephen Wempe wept Tuesday as a Houston man testified that the former priest used religion class to teach him about masturbation, then encouraged him to practice when they were alone.
The testimony came during the second day of Wempe's trial on charges of abusing a boy in the early 1990s. Wempe, through his attorney, has admitted to molesting 13 boys decades ago, but denies the more recent abuse allegations.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Curtis R. Rappe is allowing testimony about past molestations to bolster prosecutors' contention that Wempe was a practiced abuser who used the same script to exploit children for decades.
The Houston man attended Paraclete High School in Lancaster, where Wempe taught religion and coached golf. When Deputy Dist. Atty. Todd Hicks asked the man if he was a good golfer, Wempe, sitting at the defense table, nodded yes.
• Conte rules out re-election
- RCC. Donated to RCC fund while probing RC abuse.Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), By Milton J. Valencia, January 25, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- District Attorney John J. Conte announced yesterday the end of his 30-year run as the county's top prosecutor, sending ripples through a legal community that assumed he would seek another term.
Mr. Conte gave a quick speech to his staff at 3 p.m. yesterday, before exiting out a back door. Many called it an emotional speech punctuated by applause.
The announcement brings closure for a 75-year-old man who spent more than half of his life in public service. He served 14 years in the state Senate, before then-Gov. Michael S. Dukakis appointed him district attorney in 1976. He won the following election and has dominated challengers since. ...
Mr. Conte also has been criticized for his handling of the Catholic Diocese of Worcester sexual abuse crisis, particularly when he donated money to the diocesan Bishop's Fund while he was investigating the diocese's priests for abuse.
• Priest Accused of Sexual Abuse Gets Probation
[2001-02 Hernandez] - RCC. Boy.Los Angeles Times, By Jean Guccione, January 25, 2006
CALIFORNIA -- A retired priest accused of molesting an Eagle Rock youth pleaded no contest Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Father Stephen Hernandez, 72, tried to kill himself when he learned four years ago that he was being investigated for alleged child sexual abuse.
He was not in court when Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Richard E. Rico sentenced him to three years' probation and ordered him to stay away from children.
The retired priest had faced 10 years in prison on 10 counts of lewd acts with a child and two counts of using a minor for sex acts between March 2001 and January 2002.
Hernandez was accused of molesting a boy he met while counseling minors at Eastlake Juvenile Hall. The boy said the priest touched him at his home and at the priest's residence at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in El Sereno. The priest also took pictures of the boy in various states of undress.
• Abusive priest leaving prison
[20yrs. Rodrigue] - RCC. 10 altar boys.San Bernardino County Sun, by Kelly Rush, ~ January 25, 2006
SAN BERNARDINO, California -- A child molester and defrocked Catholic priest is being released from prison today, and officials with the San Bernardino Diocese have pledged to warn their churches and schools before his arrival here.
The pledge comes at the insistence of an advocacy group for those sexually abused by clergy after its members learned that Anthony Edward "Tony" Rodrigue will make his new home in San Bernardino.
The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, sent a letter to the bishops of the San Bernardino and San Diego dioceses on Tuesday. They are joined in their request by Rodrigue's brother, Tom Rodrigue, and several others.
"Although we do not know the location of his new residence, we are contacting all of our parishes and schools in San Bernardino alerting them of his release," said the Rev. Howard Lincoln, diocesan spokesman. "We remain completely dedicated to the protection of children."
• Court to hear arguments in statute of limitations case
[RC archdiocese]The Beacon Journal, Associated Press, ~ January 25, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to resolve conflicting appeals court decisions on deadlines for filing sexual abuse lawsuits against churches or priests.
Arguments were scheduled for Wednesday morning in a case in which an appeals court ruled against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's attempts to limit filing. Another appeals court previously issued a narrower interpretation that benefited the church.
"The dilemma for the court is trying to find a way where worthy plaintiffs can bring worthy causes of action without completely undermining the rationale behind the statute of limitations," Konrad Kircher, the attorney for one of the "John Doe" plaintiffs, said Tuesday.
Several lawsuits by people who said they were abused as children have accused the Roman Catholic archdiocese and Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of negligently hiring the priests, hiding the abuse and inflicting emotional distress.
Most were thrown out based on state laws setting deadlines for filing complaints over sexual abuse of a minor.
• Court upholds dismissal of lawsuit against diocese
[Sky Ranch for Boys priest] - RCC. Boy.Sioux City Journal, January 25, 2006
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- The dismissal of a lawsuit over alleged sexual molestation by a priest in South Dakota was upheld Tuesday by a federal appeals court.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis agreed with a federal judge who said Gerald P. Pecoraro, of Omaha missed the legal deadline to file a lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Rapid City.
Pecoraro alleged in his lawsuit that a priest who was director at Sky Ranch for Boys in Harding County molested him in the 1960s when he was in his teens. The diocese, which appointed the priest and directed his actions, should be held liable, Pecoraro said.
An initial lawsuit filed by Pecoraro in Nebraska against Sky Ranch and the Rapid City Diocese was dismissed by a judge.
He later filed suit in federal court in South Dakota against the diocese.
In March 2005, U.S. District Judge Richard H. Battey of Rapid City ruled that Pecoraro did not file the lawsuit before a three-year statute of limitations expired.
In upholding Battey's decision, the three-judge appeals court panel rejected Pecoraro's arguments that a six-year statue of limitations -- not three years -- applies in the case and that the three-year period should have been delayed because he was mentally ill.
• Cops wanted priest charged sooner
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000Chicago Sun-Times, BY CATHLEEN FALSANI AND STEFANO ESPOSITO, January 25, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Chicago Police wanted to charge the Rev. Daniel McCormack with child sex abuse last August, but prosecutors refused because they thought the case was weak.
"On Aug. 30 we sought felony charges against him, but they were rejected due to the late outcry of the victim, no evidence, no admission of the priest -- he exercised his right to remain silent -- and no corroborating evidence," a police source told the Chicago Sun-Times Wednesday.
The investigation against McCormack, 37, the pastor of Chicago's St. Agatha, was further hampered by the fact that officials of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago advised the priest to remain silent, the police source said. "That is his right, but at the same time this is the archdiocese with its 'we're upfront about everything' bulls - - -."
• Priest Evades Possible Sex Offender Status by Pleading Guilty to a Lesser Crime
[2000-02 Byrns] - RCC. Teenage altar boy.The Sun, By LAUREN ELKIES, January 25, 2006
NEW YORK -- A Brooklyn priest charged with a series of sexual abuse counts that could have landed him in prison for up to 25 years and required him to register with the state as a sexual offender managed to evade that fate by pleading guilty to a lesser crime of endangering the welfare of a child.
"People register when they're convicted of a sex offense," not when they are charged with one, the head of the Brooklyn district attorney's sex crimes unit, Rhonnie Jaus, said.
The Reverend Joseph Byrns, a 63-year-old Brooklyn Catholic priest on administrative leave, was initially charged with two counts of sexual conduct against a child and 20 counts of sexual abuse for allegedly abusing a boy six times in a church rectory between 2000 and 2002, Ms. Jaus said.
After a jury was unable to reach a verdict, Mr. Byrns pleaded guilty Monday to endangering the welfare of a child. He was sentenced to three years' probation and is required to attend a Brooklyn sexual offender treatment program.
Such a stroke of good fortune is not the norm, Ms. Jaus said. "Most sex offenders do plead guilty to sex offenses" and therefore must register, she said.
• Bill aims to toughen sex-crime sentences
The Courier-Journal, By Deborah Yetter, dyetter@courier-journal.com , January 25, 2006
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Sex offenders would face tougher sentencing and closer supervision, and court records of juvenile offenders as young as 12 would become public under two bills announced yesterday.
House Bill 3, which includes tougher laws for sex offenses, also would expand the use of the death penalty for such crimes as the murder of a child younger than 12.
House Bill 436 would open now-closed juvenile court proceedings and records of children older than 12 for offenses including burglary, felony sexual or physical assault, homicide and use of a weapon in a crime.
Diana Thornsbury of Louisville, whose 12-year-old daughter was raped and killed 11 years ago by a juvenile sex offender, said opening such records is overdue.
"I think it should be open to the public, what they're doing," said Thornsbury, who had no idea that the 17-year-old neighbor who killed her daughter had been convicted of raping a 7-year-old girl.
• Massachusetts jurors begin deliberations in trial of pedophile priest's killer
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's murder.Pravda, 16:00, Jan-25-2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- A jury is scheduled to resume deliberations Wednesday to determine the fate of an inmate charged with the jailhouse strangling of John Geoghan, the child-molesting priest at the center of Boston's Roman Catholic sex scandal. After more than two weeks of testimony that centered largely on whether Joseph Druce was insane when he killed Geoghan, the panel was given the case Tuesday.
The prosecutor said in his closing argument that Druce was a calculating and conniving killer who planned the murder for weeks so he could be a "big shot" in prison. But Druce's lawyer said Druce was severely mentally ill and under the delusion that God had chosen him to kill Geoghan and send a message to pedophiles around the world.
Druce admits sneaking into Geoghan's cell at the Souza-Baranowski prison in Shirley in August 2003. He jammed the door shut with a book, then beat and strangled the 68-year-old Geoghan.
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Wed January 25, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Parents angered as teacher goes back to work
[2002 Bednall] - Uniting Church. "Inappropriate" internet sites.
The West Australian, by BETHANY HIATT, p 5, Wednesday, January 25, 2006
ROCKINGHAM (south of Fremantle), W. Australia: Parents of children at a church school in Rockingham are worried that a former principal who resigned after he was accused of accessing child pornography is to teach there.
[Picture] John Bednall: Surprised by fuss.
Former Wesley College principal John Bednall left the college in 2002 but all charges were dropped in 2004. He is suing Wesley College in the Supreme Court for damages of about $1 million for wrongful dismissal, claiming his contract was wrongfully terminated.
The college is defending the action on the grounds Mr Bednall chose to resign and, therefore, terminated his contract.
But Tranby College parents say he is still under a cloud and should not be allowed to teach their children.
An angry mother, who did not want to be named, said some parents had threatened to boycott Mr Bednall's classroom.
Mr Bednall's wife Jo, principal of the Uniting Church school in Rockingham, said her husband was simply the best applicant for the job.
She said she discussed the decision with staff and he had been employed with the full approval of council and the executive team of staff.
She was not surprised there was some unease over the appointment but she was disappointed parents had not contacted her and given her a chance to talk to them about it.
"I would hope that (parents) would accept that all charges were dismissed," she said.
Mr Bednall said he was surprised by the fuss because no one had complained when he did relief teaching at Tranby last year and supervised trainee teachers in schools for Notre Dame University, where he has just completed his doctorate studies.
"I have satisfied the most stringent police qualification in Australia to qualify to teach at a WA school. The allegations against me did not even go to trial," he said.
The chairwoman of the school's Parents and Friends group declined to comment.
[RECAPITULATION: ... $1 million ... The college is defending the action on the grounds Mr Bednall chose to resign and, therefore, terminated his contract. ...
... some parents had threatened to boycott Mr Bednall's classroom.
Mr Bednall's wife Jo, principal of the Uniting Church school in Rockingham, said her husband was simply the best applicant for the job. ...
Mr Bednall said ... no one had complained when he did relief teaching at Tranby last year and supervised trainee teachers in schools for Notre Dame University, where he has just completed his doctorate studies. ... RECAP. ENDS.]
[PAST NEWSITEMS include: Sydney Morning Herald, "Headmaster quits after accusations of 'improper' Net use," www.smh.com.au/ articles/ 2002/08/09/ 10281580 06504.html , Aug 9, 2002; AND, The Australian, Internet Technology, "Principal resigns after net probe," http:// australian it.news.com.au/ articles/0,7204, 4866564%5 e15342%5 e%5enbv%5 e15306-15319, 00.html , by Roger Martin, Aug 9, 2002, AND, The West Australian, "Police to explain porn case," p 7, Wednesday, February 25, 2004. (Only one extra Display" window will open to display these, one at a time.)
[NOTE: Someone, according to one news report, had allowed other Wesley College school work to be done on the work computer that the defendant had allegedly used to download the pornography websites. ENDS.]
Read on and from Abuse Chronology 5 ethicscontents5.htm , AND, study ethcont70.htm
[COMMENTS: Assuming that early news reports are correct, and hoping that the Wesley College and Uniting Church leaders are truth-tellers, will this "wrongful dismissal" case end up in another unjust decision of our sick legal system? That the police's case did not even go to trial is no surprise -- other school work had been done on the computer on which the child pornography websites had allegedly been found, a Feb 25, 2004, newsitem reads. The early newsitems talked of "inappropriate" internet sites, but later it was labelled more seriously.
Parents: Unless large numbers of Tranby College parents withdraw their children and seek a refund of fees, the school management will not take a real interest in just how the police, who were called very early by Wesley College, did not manage to get the case past the committal proceedings.
The best applicant, says his wife.
The fact that he has been teaching for the Roman Catholic Notre Dame Australia University (based in Fremantle) leads to the suggestion that readers check the sheer volume of cases labelled "RCC" on these webpages, and pray. Yes, the original Notre Dame University in the USA has had exposures and departures of sex-abusing staff. COMMENT ENDS.]
[SCRIPTURE, perhaps, about the wrongful dismissal court case: Luke 16:8. ENDS.] [Jan 25, 06]
• Priest bailed on child sex charges
[1983/84 Doyle -NEW*] - RCC. Girl.The West Australian, p 12, Wednesday, January 25, 2006
FREMANTLE, W. Australia: Catholic priest Richard Joseph Doyle was granted bail when he appeared in Fremantle Magistrate's Court yesterday charged over molesting a seven-year-old girl in late 1983 or early 1984.
Fremantle detectives charged the 69-year-old man with two counts of indecent dealing last Friday.
He was not required to plead to the charges and the case was adjourned until a committal mention date on April 4.
[CONTACT: The Rev. Richard Doyle is listed at St Bernadette's Centre, Port Kennedy. The parish house is at Warnbro. A school is connected with the parish. Click: www.perthcatholic. org.au/parish/ html/port_ kennedy.html . ENDS.]
[LOOK FORWARD: July 24 and 25, 2007; not guilty October 4, 2007. ENDS.] [Jan 25, 06]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Thu January 26, 2006 edition follows:-
• Judge could decide today in priest records case
[1975 Romero] - RCC. Altar boy.
Naples Daily News, www.naplesnews .com/news/2006/ jan/26/judge_ could_decide_ today_ preist_ records_case , By Janine Zeitlin (Contact), Thursday, January 26, 2006
NAPLES (FL) -- Two Florida newspapers -- the Daily News and The Miami Herald -- could get an answer today about whether employee records of a former Naples priest accused of sexual abuse should be made public.
The case is set before a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge.
Records may show the Catholic Church failed to protect children from William Romero, who worked at St. Ann school and church in 1975-76, according to an October motion filed by The Herald and later joined by the Daily News.
People deserve to know how the Catholic Church handled Romero, an "alleged serial pedophile," the motion states.
The motion is linked to a civil case settled for an unknown amount in November 2005 that accused Romero of sexually abusing a 10-year Coral Gables altar boy in 1975. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:11 PM]
• Children 'safe' at sex case school
[Hervé*] - Church of England. Child.
ic Birmingham , Jan 25 2006
UNITED KINGDOM -- Education chiefs have urged parents not to remove their children from a Birmingham school at the centre of a double sex controversy.
Parents at Ladypool Primary School in Sparkbrook reacted angrily following the arrest of Father John Hervé two weeks ago on suspicion of raping a child.
He was released on bail and immediately suspended by the Diocese of Birmingham from his post as vicar of St Agatha's Church, in Sparkbrook.
• Cardinal George hospitalized for tests
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000
ABC 7, January 26, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Cardinal Francis George was admitted Thursday afternoon to Loyola University Medical Center.
According to the Archdiocese of Chicago, the cardinal complained of dizziness prior to his recent trip to New Zealand and Rome. He was hospitalized for tests. As a precautionary measure, Cardinal George is expected to stay overnight to allow doctors to finish their examination of the cardinal.
Earlier Thursday, Cardinal Francis George made his first comments on the sexual abuse charges against Father Daniel McCormack. The 37-year-old priest is accused of abusing two boys at Saint Agatha's Church on the city's West Side.
• Reason for anger
- Churches lobbied against honest accounting bill.
The Boston Globe, By Adrian Walker, Globe Columnist | January 26, 2006
BOSTON (MA) -- Disappointment mixed with fury in Senator Marian Walsh's voice yesterday after it became obvious that her bill calling for financial disclosure by churches was well on its way to being crushed.
It was artful, really, the way the opponents of the bill had orchestrated their efforts and convinced nearly everyone that the vote remained close, the better to keep their supporters united and energized.
"This is our process; I accept that," said Walsh, a West Roxbury Democrat. "But we have a lot of public charities that are accountable to no one."
Not long ago, the clergy sexual abuse scandal was widely believed to have severely diluted the influence wielded on Beacon Hill by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
Yesterday, that theory was forcefully consigned to the recycle bin.
• Nun: I reported priest in 2000
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000Chicago Sun-Times, www.suntimes. com/output/ news/cst-nws- priest26.html , BY CATHLEEN FALSANI AND FRANK MAIN, January 26, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- A nun who worked at Chicago's Holy Family Catholic School -- where the Rev. Daniel McCormack used to say mass for students once a week -- has told the Chicago Sun-Times she alerted officials of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago of her concerns about the priest's behavior with children as early as winter 2000.
The nun, who asked that her name not be used, said a fourth-grade boy at Holy Family claimed McCormack asked him to pull down his pants in the sacristy of the church when the two were alone after a Friday mass in 2000. She said she told several archdiocesan officials about the child's allegations -- both verbally and in writing -- on several occasions, but her warnings went unheeded.
The nun's revelations emerged Wednesday as Chicago authorities widened their investigation of the 37-year-old priest, who was charged last weekend with sexually abusing two boys at St. Agatha's church in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood.
Chicago Police are investigating an allegation that McCormack abused a student in 2000 at the now-shuttered Holy Family School at May and Roosevelt, and investigators also were interviewing a teenager Wednesday about allegations he was abused by McCormack last year, said police spokeswoman Monique Bond.
• Diocese hit with another suit
[1960s Msgr. Feeney] - RCC. Promoted after exposure. Boy.Quad-City Times, By Thomas Geyer, January 26, 2006
IOWA -- Another lawsuit was filed Wednesday against the Catholic Diocese of Davenport claiming that a now deceased monsignor sexually abused a 10-year-old boy while he was assigned to Sacred Heart Cathedral in the 1960s.
Filed in Scott County District Court by Donald Kloss, the lawsuit also alleges that Msgr. Thomas Feeney was promoted to vicar general, or second in command, of the diocese despite the fact that the diocese then under the Most Rev. Gerald O'Keefe knew about the abuse allegations.
In his lawsuit, Kloss alleges that the abuse began in 1967 when he was 10 years old and was attending Sacred Heart where Feeney was pastor.
Kloss is requesting an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages.
It is the second lawsuit filed against the diocese specifically naming Feeney.
• Rodrigue had ties to San Diego area
[Rodrigue] - RCC. 20 survivors.Union-Tribune, By Sandi Dolbee, January 26, 2006
CALIFORNIA -- A former San Diego priest and convicted child molester was released from prison yesterday and is staying in a San Bernardino motel while parole authorities try to make longer-term arrangements, according to his brother.
"No one wants to accept him," said Tom Rodrigue, younger brother to Edward Anthony Rodrigue, who served parishes in the San Diego and San Bernardino Roman Catholic dioceses for about 20 years from the 1960s to the 1980s. "Part of that is the notoriety and part of that is the crime."
Edward Anthony Rodrigue, 69, was sentenced in 1998 to 10 years in state prison for molesting an 11-year-old developmentally disabled boy in San Bernardino County. He is facing at least 19 civil lawsuits filed by men who allege he molested them while he was a priest and they were minors.
While the former priest declined to be interviewed, his brother described him as being "very glad to be out" and "very positive about the future."
• Abuse cases end quietly for diocese
[Phoenix Diocese] - RCC. $US 375,000. Quietly. 17 more to go. Five victims win.The Arizona Republic, by Michael Clancy, Jan. 26, 2006
PHOENIX (AZ) -- The Phoenix Diocese quietly has reached out-of-court settlements in five sex-abuse lawsuits filed in Maricopa County, paying out $375,000 to the victims. Each of the cases was settled in the past six months.
"Bishop (Thomas J.) Olmsted would like to put these matters behind us, and we are working very hard to do that," said Mike Haran, attorney for the diocese.
Olmsted said, "Our primary goal concerning these settlements is to foster healing and reconciliation."
He added, "We believe the settlements were fair and appropriate."
The diocese also has resolved four cases filed in Tucson. Remaining are 17 lawsuits, 10 filed locally and seven in California.
Mark Kennedy, who received a settlement, said ending his case brought "healing and wellness."
"I was overcome by a sense of forgiveness for everyone who hurt me," he said.
• Pastor Arrested For Failing To Report Possible Sexual Assault
[? 2000s Blackwell] - Miracle Temple Baptist. Failed to report allegations.WTKR, ~ January 26, 2006
NEWPORT NEWS (VA) -- A Newport News pastor is in jail.
He's accused of not reporting a possible case of sexual assault, involving three children. Rev. Floyd Blackwell turned himself in Wednesday.
67-year-old Blackwell is the pastor at Miracle Temple Baptist Church. Police say they got a tip last November that a 19-year-old may have sexually assaulted three of his young female relatives.
The girls are seven, eight, and nine-years-old. During their investigation, police also found out that another family member told Blackwell about the possible abuse.
However, police say Blackwell did not go to the authorities, and he advised the family member not to tell police. Blackwell is being held without bond. The 19-year-old, accused of committing the sexual assault, was also arrested.
• Pastor jailed in child sexual-abuse case
[2000s Blackwell] - Miracle Temple Baptist. Failed to report allegations.Daily Press, BY SHAWN DAY, 247-4816, January 26, 2006
NEWPORT NEWS (VA) -- A longtime Newport News pastor was arrested and held without bond Wednesday on charges that he failed to report allegations that a man he knew had sexually abused three young girls, and that he also discouraged another person from telling police.
The Rev. Floyd Blackwell, pastor of Miracle Temple Baptist Church on 32nd Street, turned himself in during the early afternoon, Officer Harold Eley said. Warrants had been issued for his arrest Tuesday. He was booked on three felony counts of obstruction.
He also was booked on three misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, "because he was aware of the situation and didn't report it. He allowed the situation to continue," Eley said. Child Protective Services received an anonymous call on Nov. 30, claiming that a 19-year-old man had been sexually assaulting three girls, ages 7, 8 and 9, for the past three years, Eley said.
Officers investigated the report and arrested the man Jan. 14. He was booked on eight counts of sodomy, eight counts of taking indecent liberties with children and two counts of abduction.
• Fellow Inmate Guilty of Murdering Ex-Priest
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's death. [30yrs Geoghan] - RCC. 150 boys.Los Angeles Times, By Elizabeth Mehren, January 26, 2006
BOSTON -- A jury in Worcester, Mass., convicted a prison inmate Wednesday of murdering John J. Geoghan, the defrocked Roman Catholic priest at the center of the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Boston Archdiocese.
Joseph L. Druce, 40, had admitted strangling Geoghan in Geoghan's prison cell on Aug. 23, 2003. Jurors in Worcester, about 40 miles west of Boston, rejected Druce's claims that he was insane when he killed Geoghan and that he believed he was protecting children by doing so.
Geoghan, 68, was serving nine to 10 years for fondling a 10-year-old boy at a community swimming pool. He was accused of molesting more than 150 children over three decades as a priest in the Boston area.
His trial in 2002 helped spark the abuse crisis that continues to haunt the Roman Catholic Church. Documents made public during the case revealed that church officials had rebuffed complaints from parents who said Geoghan, their parish priest, had sexually molested their children.
Rather than removing him from duties involving children, church officials simply moved Geoghan when reports became too numerous. He served in six parishes around Boston.
• Druce found guilty
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's death. [30yrs Geoghan] - RCC. 150 boys.Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), www.telegram. com/apps/pbcs. dll/article?AID=/ 20060126/ NEWS/601260 490/1116/NEWS LETTERS08 ; By Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , January 26, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- Joseph L. Druce was found guilty of first-degree murder yesterday in the 2003 prison slaying of defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan.
A Worcester Superior Court jury deliberated for about seven hours over two days before rejecting the confessed killer's insanity defense.
The 12-member jury unanimously determined that the Aug. 23, 2003, murder of Mr. Geoghan, 68, in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center was premeditated and done with extreme atrocity or cruelty, the prosecution's dual theories of first-degree murder in the case.
Mr. Druce, now 40, was already serving a life sentence for murder when he beat and strangled the ex-priest in a protective custody unit at the maximum-security prison on the Lancaster-Shirley line. He later confessed to the killing, telling prison officials and state police that he sneaked into Mr. Geoghan's cell and killed the former priest and convicted child molester to prevent him from sexually abusing other children after his release from custody.
As he was about to be sentenced yesterday, Mr. Druce told the court, "Again, I'm going to stand by my statement previously that these pedophiles need to be stopped, and that's why I did it.
"Just hold the pedophiles accountable, as well as myself," he said to Judge Francis R. Fecteau.
Judge Fecteau sentenced Mr. Druce to a consecutive life term with no possibility of parole, the mandatory punishment for first-degree murder. Mr. Druce, who testified that he was sexually abused as a child, received his first life sentence in 1989, when he was convicted of murder for strangling a North Shore man who picked him up hitchhiking and allegedly made a sexual advance toward him.
"This state does not have capital punishment, and if they did, you would not be, as Mr. Murphy pointed out, the person who would carry it out," Judge Fecteau told Mr. Druce before imposing the sentence yesterday.
In his closing argument, Assistant District Attorney Lawrence J. Murphy had said Mr. Druce's feelings about pedophiles did not justify his actions.
"What makes him the executioner?" the prosecutor asked.
Defense lawyer John H. LaChance, who had urged the jury of seven men and five women to find his client not guilty by reason of mental illness, said he was disappointed, if not surprised, by the guilty verdict.
"This kind of defense is clearly not favored by the public," said Mr. Druce's appointed lawyer, who had maintained his client was mentally ill at the time of the killing and lacked criminal responsibility for his actions. Mr. LaChance filed a notice of appeal after the verdict was read.
Thomas Wiegand, the jury foreman, later told reporters that he and his fellow jurors believed Mr. Druce was mentally ill, but did not feel his mental illness was so severe that he lacked criminal responsibility.
"No hard feelings. You guys have a good night," Mr. Druce said to the jurors as they were being led from the courtroom after returning their verdict.
Mr. LaChance said after the verdict that he intended to ask state correction officials to transfer Mr. Druce out of state to serve his time, preferably to a secure psychiatric hospital.
Mr. Druce appeared in court yesterday with a blackened left eye. According to Mr. LaChance, Mr. Druce said he was assaulted by a Department of Correction employee shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday at the state prison in Walpole, where he is being held.
Mr. Druce also said he returned to Walpole from court Tuesday to find that the TV in his cell had been smashed, his watch had been stolen and someone had spat on his bed, according to Mr. LaChance.
The defense lawyer said it appeared that the reported assault and damage were related to Mr. Druce's testimony concerning his alleged mistreatment in prison and his work as a prison informant.
The Department of Correction said in a press release that Mr. Druce was seen by medical staff at his cell door at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday. He made no allegations of having been assaulted at that time and no injuries were noted by the medical personnel, according to the release.
"While the investigation is still ongoing, it certainly bears noting that Mr. Druce has a long history of self-injurious behavior," the release states.
• Pedophile priest's killer found guilty
[2003 Druce] - Former RC priest Geoghan's murder. [30yrs Geoghan] - RCC. 150 boys.AZCentral, by Denise Lavoie, Associated Press, Jan. 26, 2006
WORCESTER, Mass. - Joseph Druce's conviction Wednesday for murdering pedophile priest John Geoghan effectively added nothing to the life sentence he was already serving. So he could afford to be a little gracious after the verdict was read.
His insanity claims rejected, Druce looked up at the jurors and said quietly, "It's all right. Good job." As they walked out, he added, "No hard feelings."
At sentencing later, Druce indicated that he still considered his crime, strangling a fellow inmate in his own cell with a pair of stretched-out socks, to be not only the act of a hero but one inspired by God.
"These pedophiles need to be stopped. That's why I did it," he told Judge Francis Fecteau, who sentenced him to a mandatory term of life without parole.
• Detroit's pacifist bishop resigns
- RCC. Bishop Thomas Gumbleton lost to progress.Detroit Free Press, BY DAVID CRUMM and PATRICIA MONTEMURRI, January 26, 2006
DETROIT (MI) -- Today at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI is expected to announce the resignation of one of the world's most controversial Catholic leaders, Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton.
The pacifist bishop, who has dropped into many of the world's political hot spots in his crusades for social justice, turns 76 today. His resignation as an assistant to Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida was called for under church law when he reached the age of 75. ...
Maida, who was in Marquette on Wednesday for the installation of a new bishop for the Upper Peninsula, could not be reached for comment. But McGrath said the cardinal, who staunchly opposes opening up past abuse cases to legal action, is likely to raise major questions about his former auxiliary's political activism.
• Ohio Supreme Court to address sex-abuse suits; Local parishioner calls for reforms
- RCC.Canton Repository, By TERRY KINNEY, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER, ~ January 26, 2006
Edward G. Friedl, a member of St. Paul's Catholic Church in North Canton, is pushing for the Catholic Church to address the issue of pedophile priests. Friedl is involved in Voice of the Faithful, a nationwide, lay organization formed in response to the pedophile priest scandals in the Boston Archdiocese.
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The power and might of the Roman Catholic Church intimidates children abused by priests, even when they become adults, so usual time limits for filing lawsuits shouldn't apply to them, an attorney for an alleged victim said Wednesday.
The Ohio Supreme Court heard arguments in Columbus in the case of a 36-year-old "John Doe" who sued the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk and the Rev. Thomas Hopp.
The church asked the court to overturn an appeals court ruling that revived the case even though it was not filed within two years of the man's 18th birthday, as the law requires.
• Supreme Court hears priest limit arguments
[Cincinnati Archdiocese] - RCC. > 60 survivors.Cincinnati Enquirer, BY DAN HORN | January 26, 2006
COLUMBUS (OH) -- Victims of sexual abuse by priests asked the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday to allow them to sue the Catholic Church, even if the deadline for filing such lawsuits expired decades ago.
A lawyer for abuse victims argued that the emotional trauma they suffered made it impossible for many to file lawsuits in the time allowed under Ohio's statute of limitations.
Under current law, victims are required to sue within two years after they turned 18.
More than 60 people in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati - and dozens of others statewide - have sued church officials for failing to protect them from abusive priests.
Many of those cases have been dismissed in lower courts because the lawsuits were filed years, or even decades, after the statute of limitations expired.
• Accused priest's past is probed
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000Chicago Tribune, By David Heinzmann and Charles Sheehan, Tribune staff reporters (Tribune staff reporters Manya Brachear, Jeff Coen and Jason George contributed to this report), Published January 26, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Chicago Catholic Archdiocese officials said Wednesday they are investigating a West Side priest's past, looking for other allegations of sexual abuse of minors.
Rev. Daniel J. McCormack was charged last week with abusing two boys at St. Agatha's Church, 3147 W. Douglas Blvd. Church officials say they will investigate his conduct at other churches and schools, including a South Side parish.
Investigators also will look into his time as director of formation at St. Joseph's Seminary at Loyola University, where he lived in the dormitory with seminarians. His duties included advising them on their path toward the priesthood, said Archdiocese Chancellor James Lago.
Since the charges emerged Saturday, the family of another boy contacted the Tribune and described a 2001 incident in which they say McCormack took the boy aside during basketball practice and pulled down the boy's shorts. That family has contacted the Cook County state's attorney's office, authorities said.
• Priest loses post pending probe of alleged abuse
[Brennan - NEW] - RCC.Philadelphia Inquirer ~ January 26, 2006
PENNSYLVANIA -- A Catholic priest has been removed from his position at a Feasterville parish as authorities in Bucks and Chester Counties investigate an allegation of sexual abuse, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said.
The Rev. James J. Brennan, ordained in 1989, was relieved this week of his duties as an assistant to the pastor at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, according to a news release issued Monday by Cardinal Justin Rigali.
• Davenport diocese faces another sexual abuse lawsuit
[1960s Monsignor Feeney] - RCC. Accused, then promoted. BoyWHO, ~ January 26, 2006
DAVENPORT, Iowa -- Another lawsuit claiming sexual abuse by a priest has been filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport.
The latest lawsuit filed in Scott County District Court names Monsignor Thomas Feeney, who died in 1981.
It claims Feeney sexually abused a ten-year-old boy while he was pastor of the Sacred Heart Cathedral in the 1960s. It's the second lawsuit filed against the diocese specifically naming Feeney.
Craig Levien, who is representing victims in both lawsuits, says the diocese acted irresponsibly by appointing Feeney to vicar general, or second in command, after hearing of sexual abuse complaints.
• Alleged molest victim testifies about 'rage'
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.Monterey County Herald, By LINDA DEUTSCH, Associated Press, ~ January 26, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) A man who claims that as a boy he was molested by now-retired priest Michael Wempe testified Wednesday that he reacted with rage when he heard that charges against the clergyman were dropped because of a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
"I broke things at the house. I was very upset. I did a lot of crying and I did a lot grieving," a witness identified as Greg J. testified in Wempe's trial on new molestation charges involving another alleged victim.
In testimony Tuesday, Greg J. told the Superior Court jury how Wempe bonded with him, particularly while the priest was his golf coach at a Roman Catholic high school.
Returning to the stand Wednesday, the 39-year-old man said that after the priest left him, "I was very confused about whether I was homosexual" and at the age of 18 he became an alcoholic.
• Authorities dig deeper into background of charged priest
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000ABC 7, January 26, 2006 CHICAGO (IL) -- Police say they're looking into more allegations against a Chicago priest recently charged with sexual abuse.
The Reverend Daniel McCormack was charged last week with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly abusing two boys while he was a priest at Saint Agatha Church on the city's West Side. Now police say they're looking into whether McCormack may have abused a student at another school in 2000.
Police spokeswoman Monique Bond says investigators yesterday interviewed another teenager about allegations that he was abused by the priest.
Bond says McCormack has declined to answer investigators questions after his lawyer advised him not to talk with police. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:13 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Thu January 26, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Teachers' body says parents deserve no say in who teaches their children
[2002 Bednall] - Uniting Church. "Inappropriate" internet sites. [2006 WA College of Teaching] - No Church. No teaching rights for parents.
The West Australian, by BETHANY HIATT, p 12, Thursday, January 26, 2006
PERTH (W. Australia): Parents have no right to decide who teaches their children, according to the head of the WA College of Teaching.
WACOT is a new professional body which teachers must join by March 31 if they want to teach in WA.
"WACOT is alarmed that parents can determine who can teach and who cannot teach in a school," chairman Brian Lindberg said yesterday.
Mr Lindberg's comments come after parental opposition to the employment of a former principal, John Bednall, who left his position after he was accused of accessing child pornography.
Mr Bednall plans to return to teaching part-time at Tranby College, a Uniting Church school in Rockingham where his wife is principal.
The former Wesley College principal left his position in 2002 but all charges were dropped in 2004.
He is suing Wesley College in the Supreme Court for damages of about $1 million, claiming his contract was wrongfully terminated. Wesley College claims Mr Bednall chose to resign and, therefore, terminated his own contract.
Some Tranby College parents say he should not be allowed to teach because he is still under a cloud.
But Mr Lindberg said he was confident that anyone who met WACOT's membership guidelines should be allowed to teach children.
"If (teachers) have the appropriate qualifications and training, if they're fluent in English, written and oral, and if they have a police clearance then they would be registered with WACOT," Mr Lindberg said.
He said Mr Bednall had no criminal conviction and his human, civil, statutory and industrial rights should be respected.
Uniting Church moderator Robert Watson was aware of the issues and was talking to those involved, but declined to comment further.
[COMMENT: The Communists and Nazis are among groups that said parents had no right to decide who teaches their children. Judging by the recent reports that about 42 per cent of Australian school children are actually up to standard, and a previous report that three sums right out of 10 was said to be satisfactory, parents -- or somebody in society -- need to pay far more attention to WHO and WHAT in schools! COMMENT ENDS.] [Jan 26, 06]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont123.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Fri January 27, 2006 edition follows:-
• Volunteer charged with sexual abuse
[? 2006 O'Brien (or O'Brian)] - Catholic Apostolic Church. Elderly patient.
WAVY, www.wavy.com/ Global/story.asp? S=4419934& nav=23ii , ~ January 27, 2006
ARLINGTON, Va. -- A volunteer pastor charged with sexually abusing a patient at an assisted living center has made a brief appearance in court.
Arlington County Police charged 69-year-old Richard O'Brien with aggravated sexual battery. They say he had sexual contact with an elderly patient who couldn't give consent.
O'Brien was arrested yesterday at his home in Annandale. He's being held without bond in the Arlington County jail.
Officials with the rehab center say O'Brien told them he was a priest with the Catholic Apostolic Church. But officials with the independent church say O'Brien hasn't been associated with the church for ten years. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:15 PM]
• Priest's sexual assault hearing postponed
[Evans] - RCC. Child.Rocky Mountain News, By Deborah Frazier, January 27, 2006
FORT COLLINS (CO) A preliminary hearing for a former Fort Collins Catholic priest was postponed today until March 7.
The Rev. Timothy Evans, who appeared before Larimer County District Court Judge Jolene Blair, is charged with two counts of sexual abuse on a child by a person in a position of trust, one count of pattern of abuse, and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. All are felonies.
Evans was removed from the ministry at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in 2002. He was arrested in 2004 when the charges were filed.
• Police probe new priest abuse claims
[~ 1973-83 Carroll (Benedictine)] - RCC. 10 boys.
Times & Star, www.timesand star.co.uk/ news/view article.aspx? id=325091 , Jan/27/2006
UNITED KINGDOM -- A FORMER Workington priest jailed for sexually abusing young boys will be re-interviewed by town detectives following a new complaint.
The news comes less than two weeks after Father Gregory Carroll, 66, had his four-year sentence shortened by a year by the Criminal Appeal Court.
He was sentenced in September for abusing 10 boys under the age of 15 while he was teaching at the junior house of Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire from 1973 to 1983.
• Pervert monk jailed after a decade of abusing young boys
- RCC. [10yrs Grant-Ferris (Benedictine)] - 15 boys. [1975 (Cardinal) Basil Hume (Benedictine)] - Failed to report.Yorkshire Post Today, by Mark Branagan, ~ January 27, 2006
UNITED KINGDOM -- A MONK who abused 15 boys as young as eight over a decade while a master at a leading Roman Catholic boarding school has been jailed for two years.
Piers Grant-Ferris, 72, son of Tory Peer Lord Harvington, was placed on the sex offenders' register for 10 years and banned from working with children indefinitely.
His conviction yesterday at Leeds Crown Court ends a two-year investigation into abuse at Ampleforth College, in North Yorkshire, following a decision by former Abbot Basil Hume not to involve police in a complaint against Grant-Ferris in 1975.
• Hearing delayed for former priest accused of sexual assault
[~ 1998-2002 Evans] - RCC. Child.
The Coloradoan, By SARA REED, SaraReed@coloradoan.com , January 27, 2006
COLORADO -- Prosecution and defense attorneys in the case of a former priest accused of sexually assaulting a child have asked for additional time to discuss the possibility of a plea agreement.
Timothy Evans, 43, faces two counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in position of trust, one count of sexual assault on a child, pattern of abuse and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor stemming from incidents alleged to have occurred during his time at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, 5450 S. Lemay Ave., where he served from 1998 to 2002.
Evans was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Friday morning during which time District Court Judge Jolene Blair was to decide whether there was enough evidence to send the case to trial. But the hearing was delayed at the request of both sides.
• Former priest charged in abuse of boy is denied bond
[1990s Doherty] - RCC. ~ 5 boys.Miami Herald, By Wanda J. DeMarzo, wdemarzo@MiamiHerald , ~ January 27, 2006
FLORIDA -- A former priest accused of sexually abusing a young boy nearly a decade ago was denied bond at a hearing this morning.
The Rev. Neil Doherty, 62, is charged with two counts of sexual battery on a child, two counts of indecent assault and one count of lewd or lascivious molestation.
There is no bond on the sexual battery charges.
Jeffrey Herman, the Miami-based attorney for the alleged victim, plans to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. at the Broward County Main Jail, 555 S.E. First Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. Herman represents five men who claim Doherty molested them while he was a priest.
• Woman sues diocese, says priest attacked her
[2003, 2004 Gorak, a.k.a. Fisher] - RCC. Women.
Orlando Sentinel, by Mark I. Pinsky | Posted January 27, 2006
FLORIDA -- A former Lakeland woman sued the Catholic Diocese of Orlando on Thursday, saying a senior pastor ignored her pleas to do something about an associate pastor who was harassing and stalking her and eventually was charged with attacking her.
Wladyslaw Gorak, a Polish immigrant also known as Walter Fisher, was arrested last year and charged with burglary with an assault, false imprisonment, aggravated stalking and battery in connection with the October 2004 attack at the woman's Lakeland home.
The suit, filed in Orange County Circuit Court, says Gorak broke into her house, overpowered her and ripped her clothes.
Gorak had been transferred to Central Florida in late 2003 from the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., where a parishioner also accused him of stalking, the suit and police reports said. The suit says the dioceses should have known Gorak was unfit for service. [Emphasis added.]
• Alleged victim to testify in priest trial
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.
KESQ, ~ January 27, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- An alleged sexual abuse victim of ex-priest Michael Wempe will testify today in the Los Angeles courtroom where his brother delivered teary testimony yesterday afternoon.
The victim is identified in court only as Jayson. He alleges that Wempe molested him in the 1990s.
Jayson's brother, known as Mark-B, was questioned yesterday. He said Wempe molested him too, along with a third brother Lee. Wempe can't be tried for those alleged abuses because they fall outside the court's statute of limitations. But Jayson's don't.
• Joking master became 'vile, slimy, sexual predator'
[10yrs Grant-Ferris (Benedictine)] - RCC. 15 boys.
Yorkshire Post Today, by Mark Branagan, ~ January 27, 2006
UNITED KINGDOM -- With his Guards officer's dashing good looks, his athlete's energy and smooth flattering manner, no-one really knew what Tory peer's son Piers Grant-Ferris was doing at Ampleforth College.
A highly respected monk and teacher, he was also a celebrated mountaineer who in later life would face near death on the Andes.
The only son of leading public figure Lord Harvington – a personal friend of Margaret Thatcher – he had a spotless family name.
Commissioned into the Irish Guards, Grant-Ferris seemed poised for the sort of brilliant career carved out his by father, a former Deputy Speaker during Ted Heath's government and a member of a prominent English Roman Catholic family.
So pupils wondered why he suddenly retreated from the world. In a place where the 40-something Abbot Basil Hume was regarded as a youthful figure, the only explanation was a vague rumour -- that Grant-Ferris had been traumatised by a car crash in which two young women died.
• Monk jailed for assaulting boys
[10yrs Grant-Ferris (Benedictine)] - RCC. 15 boys.BBC News, ~ January 27, 2006
UNITED KINGDOM -- A monk has been jailed for two years after admitting 20 counts of indecent assault on young schoolboys.
Father Piers Grant-Ferris, 71, taught at Gilling Castle Preparatory School, a feeder for Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Benedictine monk was arrested after a police investigation into Ampleforth Abbey, which is linked to the college.
Sentencing him at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday, judge Ian Dobkin said his crimes were "dire in many respects".
• Ampleforth monk jailed for abusing young boys
[1966-75 Grant-Ferris (Benedictine)] - RCC. 15 boys. [1975 (Cardinal) Basil Hume (Benedictine)] - Failed to report.The Times, By Andrew Norfolk, ~ January 27, 2006
UNITED KINGDOM -- A MONK from a leading Roman Catholic family was jailed for two years yesterday after admitting 20 offences of indecent assault against 15 young boys at Ampleforth College.
Father Piers Grant-Ferris, 72, whose offences were committed more than 30 years ago, was given a prison sentence even though the court was presented with 3,500 letters and cards from his supporters.
Grant-Ferris, a Benedictine monk at Ampleforth Abbey, North Yorkshire, was a form master at Gilling Castle, the college's prep school, when the abuse happened between 1966 and 1975. His victims, now in their forties and fifties, were pupils aged between 8 and 10 at the time.
It emerged during the police investigation that Cardinal Basil Hume was the Abbot of Ampleforth in 1975 when concerns about Grant-Ferris were first raised by the parents of one boy. He removed the monk from further contact with pupils and sent him to work at a parish in Cumbria, but decided not to report his offending to the police.
• Bishop's future? Talk with Maida
- RCC. Bishop Gumbleton to be sacrificed.
The Detroit News, January 27, 2006
DETROIT (MI) -- Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida are expected to meet soon regarding his future at St. Leo's Catholic Church and the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Gumbleton, one of Metro Detroit's longest-serving and politically outspoken priests, has offered his resignation as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Gumbleton's resignation follows a Vatican mandate that requires bishops to resign their offices at the age of 75. Gumbleton turned 76 Thursday. ...
Earlier this month, Gumbleton revealed he was abused by a priest when he was a student at Sacred Heart Seminary 60 years ago. Gumbleton made the announcement Jan. 12 to voice his support for legislation pending in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York which would extend the statute of limitations of one year for those seeking to file lawsuit over alleged incidents by priests.
• Fushek Supporters Raising Cash for Defense Fund
[1984-94 Monsignor Fushek] - RCC. Fondled in Confession. 7 young men, boys.KPHO, AP, ~ January 27, 2006
ARIZONA (AP) -- Friends of the former pastor of St. Timothy Catholic Community Church are trying to raise $100,000 within two weeks for his legal defense.
Monsignor Dale Fushek was arrested Nov. 21 and has pleaded innocent to 10 misdemeanor sexual misconduct charges and remains under house arrest in Phoenix. Fushek, 53, is a co-defendant in a civil lawsuit filed a year ago by an alleged victim in a separate incident.
Citing the urgent need for $100,000, supporters have distributed fliers noting that the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix would pay none of Fushek's legal costs "until he is found innocent."
Diocesan attorney Michael Haran said Thursday the diocese would not cover any criminal defense costs, but it would pay civil trial costs if Fushek wins that case.
• Diocese Sued Over Alleged Assault
[2003, 2004 Gorak, a.k.a. Fisher] - RCC. Women.
The Ledger, By Cary McMullen, January 27, 2006
FLORIDA -- A $5 million lawsuit was filed against the Catholic Diocese of Orlando Thursday by a former Lakeland resident in connection with an alleged assault by a former Lakeland priest.
The lawsuit was filed in Circuit Court in Orlando on behalf of a woman identified only as Jane Doe. The suit claims that the diocese was negligent in failing to protect Doe from Wladyslaw Gorak, also known as Walter Fisher, who was a parochial vicar, or assistant pastor, at Church of the Resurrection from February to December 2004.
BACKGROUND
Gorak was arrested in May 2005 on charges of burglary with assault, false imprisonment, aggravated stalking and battery. According to a report from Lakeland police, he forced his way into a woman's home in October 2004, threw her to the floor and tore some of her clothes off. He remains in jail awaiting trial.
The suit named as defendants the Diocese of Orlando, which has jurisdiction over parishes in Polk County, and the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., where Gorak was a priest before coming to Lakeland. It claims the archdiocese failed to disclose that Gorak was implicated in a previous stalking incident in New Jersey and that the Orlando diocese ignored Doe's complaints that Gorak was harassing her.
• Witness Breaks Down on Stand
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.
Los Angeles Times, By Jean Guccione, January 27, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- Within minutes of taking the witness stand, one of Father Michael Wempe's sexual abuse victims burst into tears Thursday, gazing at a picture of his son, then 4, seated on the priest's lap at a Christmas gathering.
"I can't believe I did that," the witness, identified only as Mark B., said Thursday, wiping his eyes. "I put my son on the lap of a pedophile."
Wempe, on trial for allegedly molesting Mark B.'s youngest brother, met the family in the 1970s when they attended St. Jude Catholic Church in Westlake Village, Mark B. testified.
"He was a person of great importance to my family. We didn't know a lot of people when we moved to Westlake Village," he said. "He became a surrogate father, not just a spiritual father."
Mark B. said he recalled Wempe fondly until spring 2001, when the priest was invited to his younger brother Lee's wedding. Suddenly, he said, memories fell into place of the motorcycle rides when Wempe fondled him, and the camping trip when the priest snuggled up to him in bed.
• Volunteer Pastor Accused Of Sex Abuse At Assisted-Living Facility
[? 2006 O'Brian] - Sect unnamed. Woman inmate.NBC 4, UPDATED 7:24 pm EST, January 26, 2006
ARLINGTON, Va. -- A volunteer clergyman has been arrested and charged with sexual battery in Arlington County.
On Sunday, an employee of an assisted-living facility in the 3700 block of Lee Highway in the Cherrydale neighborhood reported that she saw the suspect -- a volunteer at the facility -- have sexual contact with an adult female resident of the facility, police said.
Richard P. O'Brian, 69, was taken into custody at his home in Annandale, police said. He is charged with one count of aggravated sexual battery, punishable by up to 20 years in jail and not more than a $100,000 fine.
• Priest charged in abuse of boy under 12
[1996-2000 Doherty] - RCC. Boy.Miami Herald, BY WANDA J. DeMARZO, JAY WEAVER AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH, jlebovich@MiamiHerald.com , ~ January 27, 2006
FLORIDA -- The Broward Sheriff's Office on Thursday arrested a former priest who had served parishes in South Florida for three decades on charges he sexually abused a young boy.
The Rev. Neil Doherty, 62, is the first Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Miami to be charged with sexual battery on a minor younger than 12.
Alleged victims of Doherty have been coming forward ever since the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002.
Broward authorities began investigating the latest case after the victim filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Miami, accusing it of allowing the priest to serve at a Margate parish despite having settled an earlier lawsuit involving previous alleged child molestation by Doherty.
While at the Margate parish, the priest allegedly drugged and raped the latest victim, now 19, over a five-year period beginning in 1996.
• Marianists respond to sexual abuse lawsuits
- RCC. [~ 1960s-70s Mueller (Marianist)] Ether knockout. Boys. [1970s Burke] - Altar boy.The Pueblo Chieftain, By PATRICK MALONE, ~ January 27, 2006
PUEBLO (CO) -- A religious order that is the subject of numerous lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of teenage boys by a former brother has responded to three suits by denying responsibility, according to court records made public on Thursday.
To date, 13 suits have been filed against the Catholic Diocese of Pueblo and the Marianists Province of the United States by former students at Roncalli High School, where Brother William Mueller taught religion and music from 1965 to 1971, when the school closed. The former students allege that Mueller subdued them with ether and sexually molested them.
None of the suits name Mueller as a defendant. He voluntarily left the Marianist order in 1986 after attending a treatment center in New Mexico for what Marianist leaders have called "bizarre behavior." Mueller now lives in San Antonio. Lawsuits containing similar allegations to those filed here have been filed in Missouri, where Mueller also taught.
Another suit names only the diocese as a defendant. It was brought by a former altar boy at St. Pius X Catholic Church who accused former priest Andrew Burke of molesting him in the early 1970s. Burke committed suicide in September.
• People's Pastor
- RCC. Global reach of Bishop Gumbleton, survivor.Detroit Free Press, January 27, 2006
DETROIT (MI) -- For those who've grown up in his nearly continual presence in southeast Michigan, it's sometimes easy to forget that Thomas Gumbleton's voice carries across the nation and world. The Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop and pastor of St. Leo's, now offering to resign to comply with the church's retirement age, remains a beacon of social justice and nonviolence.
Ecclesiastical formalities aside, there is no reason Thomas Gumbleton can't keep being Thomas Gumbleton, an inspired preacher who faithfully holds up the most marginalized members of society. He has had no administrative duties for years, so where he stands in the hierarchy should make little difference.
In an era when the Catholic Church can't find enough priests, it would seem odd indeed if he did not retain his pastoral duties, for as long as he desires and is able, at the near west-side parish that he calls home. From that unassuming perch, his weekly sermons reach out into cyberspace via www.national catholicreport er.org .
Gumbleton's ongoing ability to command national headlines was demonstrated earlier this month when he went to Ohio on behalf of victims of sexual abuse. At a news conference in favor of proposed legislation to lengthen the statute of limitations on lawsuits there, Gumbleton revealed that he, too, had suffered, as a teenager, at the hands of a priest.
• George takes the defensive
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000Chicago Tribune, By David Heinzmann and Manya A. Brachear, Tribune staff reporters. (Tribune staff reporters Barbara Brotman, Margaret Ramirez and Ofelia Casillas contributed to this report), Published January 27, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Cardinal Francis George Thursday defended the decision that allowed a West Side pastor to stay in his parish for months after an accusation of child sexual abuse, even as critics raised new questions about how the archdiocese handled the case, both last fall and as early as 2000.
George, who returned from Rome Wednesday night, issued a statement supporting the position of archdiocese officials that they could not investigate Rev. Daniel J. McCormack because of a lack of cooperation from the alleged victim's family and from law enforcement.
Shortly after George released the statement, in which he also offered prayers for the alleged victims of the priest, archdiocese officials said the cardinal had been admitted to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood because of dizzy spells.
Critics say McCormack should have been removed in September from St. Agatha's Church, 3147 W. Douglas Blvd., while church officials determined whether he had abused children. But removing him without determining the allegation's credibility would have been unfair to the priest, George's statement said.
• Victim of abuse cries on stand at ex-priest's trial
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.The Desert Sun, The Associated Press, January 27, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) A sexual abuse victim wept in court Thursday as he told of his love for Michael Wempe, the priest he said betrayed him, and his belief that he failed to protect his younger brothers from similar abuse.
"I can accept that I was abused but I can't accept the fact that I was the gatekeeper, that I let it happen to my brothers," said the man identified as Mark B.
"Every day I look at my brothers and realize it was my responsibility," he said. "I could have called the police. I just didn't have the courage to say anything."
The 42-year-old man, who now lives in Norway, came to the witness stand as a prosecutor prepared to call to the stand his youngest brother, Jayson, the sole victim who claims he was abused during a period for which Wempe can be charged criminally.
• Former Priest Charged With Child Sexual Abuse
[Doherty] - RCC. Boy.CBS 4, ~ January 27, 2006
FORT LAUDERDALE (FL), (CBS4/MIAMI HERALD) -- A former priest, who served parishes in South Florida, is now charged with sexually abusing a young boy.
The Broward Sheriff's Office arrested The Rev. Neil Doherty, 62, on Thursday.
Doherty is the first Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Miami to be charged with sexual battery on a minor younger than 12.
According to our news partners at The Herald, alleged victims of Doherty have been coming forward ever since the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:06 AM[
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Fri January 27, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sat January 28, 2006 edition follows:-
• Cardinal: Mistakes were made
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000
Chicago Sun-Times, www.suntimes .com/output/news/ card28.html , BY CARLA K. JOHNSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS, January 28, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- A day after being released from a hospital, Cardinal Francis George said Saturday had he known several months ago what he knows now regarding a priest charged with molesting two boys, he would have found a way to remove him from a West Side parish.
"Had I known then what I think I know now, we would have perhaps found some way to take him out," George said.
The Rev. Daniel McCormack was charged Jan. 21 with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Prosecutors say he repeatedly molested two boys between 2001 and 2005.
McCormack was suspended and removed from St. Agatha Church several days before he was charged, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has said.
But some critics have questioned why McCormack was allowed to remain at the church. The archdiocese has acknowledged that one of the charges stems from an allegation of sexual abuse that was first made in August. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:01 PM]
• All Tucson parishes separated in sex-abuse fallout
[2005-06 Tucson Diocese] - RCC. Sidelining assets.KPHO, ~ January 28, 2006
TUCSON, Ariz. -- All 74 parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson will be legally separated by the end of February.
The move comes as the church rebuilds from bankruptcy caused by a slew of priest sexual-abuse lawsuits.
Each parish will incorporate and take legal title to its property. But that doesn't mean they'll be run as standalone operations.
Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas will sit on each parish board along with two other priests. The five-person boards will be rounded out with two lay members.
• Rape accused resigns school post
[? 1990s, 2000s Herve*] - Church of England. Child.
BBC News, ~ January 28, 2006
UNITED KINGDOM -- A priest facing allegations of child rape has stood down as chairman of governors at a Birmingham school.
Canon John Herve, was suspended from his duties as parish priest at St Agatha with St Barnabas in Sparkbrook, after being arrested this month.
He is currently on police bail while investigations continue into the alleged rape of a child under 16.
The city council confirmed on Saturday he has left his post on Ladypool Primary School's board of governors.
• Fees fear in abuse cases
- RCC.
The Advertiser, by Nigel Hunt, Jan 29, 06
AUSTRALIA -- THE Catholic Church has moved to assure victims of sexual abuse their legal fees will continue to be paid following confusion created by a new policy document.
Catholic diocese of Adelaide Director of Professional Standards Sue Cain yesterday said there would be no change to the existing system under which cases were assessed individually and all legal fees paid "in many cases".
This was despite a revised Towards Healing principles and procedures guidelines document provided to lawyers representing abuse victims stating otherwise.
The document says "as support persons are not remunerated for their role in the process, no legal fees are payable to support persons who are legal practitioners".
• Cardinal George: Process To Report Priest Abuse Was Ignored
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000
WBBM, Mary Frances Bragiel Reporting, ~ January 28, 2006
CHICAGO (IL), (WBBM Newsradio 780) -- Cardinal Francis George says it's necessary to have a public conversation regarding the charges of sexual abuse against Rev. Daniel McCormack.
WBBM Newsradio 780's Mary Frances Bragiel reports Saturday, the day after the cardinal was released from a hospital after dizziness from an inner ear imbalance. He told reporters he is feeling much better.
The priest is charged with molesting two boys at St. Agatha's Church on the West Side.
For the delay in removing the priest, George stopped shy of blaming the Archdiocese but did admit the process in reporting the alleged abuse was not followed.
He said the victim needed to come forward to the Office of Professional Responsibility within the Archdiocese. That did not happen.
And without credible evidence, the cardinal says he could only have him monitored by another priest and not removed from the ministry.
George wouldn't say if he believed McCormick [McCormack] was guilty.
• Cardinal Responds To Charges Against Priest
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000CBS 2, Jay Levine Reporting, ~ January 28, 2006
CHICAGO (IL), (CBS) -- Cardinal Francis George said Saturday that when allegations first arose against a priest who was later charged with abusing children, there was insufficient evidence to take action against him.
But, as CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, George said: "Had I known then what I know now, I think I would have tried to find some way to take him out. But the way isn't clear in the code. In order to take somebody out permanently or even to take him out for the purpose of investigation, you have to be sure that you're not violating the law."
The Rev. Daniel McCormack was arrested last week and charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of two young boys at St. Agatha Church, at 3147 W. Douglas Blvd. A third later made allegations against him.
• Sex charges cast pall on Bishop Paulk
[11yr affair "Bishop" Paulk] - Chapel Hill Harvester Church. 4th scandal.Atlanta Journal-Constitution, By GAYLE WHITE, Published on Jan/29/06
GEORGIA -- Facing major surgery and embroiled in his fourth sex scandal, Bishop Earl Paulk stood confidently in the pulpit of his 7,700-seat south DeKalb cathedral in late October.
Only a few hundred worshippers occupied the maroon seats on the main floor of Chapel Hill Harvester Church. Sections of the semi-circular sanctuary were roped off so congregants would sit near the front for the television cameras. The ceiling rose majestically over two almost empty balconies.
Norma, Paulk's wife of six decades, sat to his right.
But gone were some of his most faithful followers.
They had helped Paulk, 78, build his little church into a flock of 12,000 that caught the attention of presidents. Then they had stood by him as the church hemorrhaged members and money after two scandals that drew national attention.
They had believed him when he denied allegations of adultery and child molestation by saying his accusers were under demonic influence.
Now, they are his accusers.
Cindy Hall, 44, was the first baby born into the church that Paulk founded in 1960. In 2003, she burst into tears over dinner and told her husband, Greg, "We have to get out of there." She says Paulk coerced her into an 11-year affair that included having sex with his brother.
• Lutheran bishop resigns after admitting sexual misconduct
[Neils] - Lutheran. Woman.The Arizona Republic www.azcentral. com/arizona republic/local/ articles/0128 lutheran28.html , by Michael Clancy, Jan. 28, 2006
ARIZONA -- Arizona's Lutheran bishop has resigned after admitting he engaged in sexual misconduct with a woman.
Since 2001, Michael Neils, 56, had served as bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America-Grand Canyon Synod. It covers Arizona and Las Vegas.
Neils also resigned as an ordained minister.
He is the second Lutheran bishop to resign after admitting sexual misconduct. In 1996, the bishop in North Carolina quit after he admitted to sexual misconduct with a woman.
The resignation was announced late Thursday by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's offices in Chicago.
Neils informed synod leaders of his resignation Tuesday.
Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, who oversees the bishops, said Neils reported the misconduct Monday, and he recommended that Neils step down.
Neils, in a statement released by the church, also said his 35-year marriage is ending.
"Part of the reason for the divorce is my own conduct unbecoming the office of an ordained minister of this church," Neils said. "I am guilty of sexual misconduct with an adult woman." [...]
• Priests who abuse betray all Catholics
[1977 Ritchey] - RCC. Minor.Lancaster Eagle-Gazette ~ January 28, 2006
OHIO -- BISHOP Frederick F. Campbell followed church policy by permanently removing the Rev. Samuel E. Ritchey from the ministry once a review board determined an abuse complaint was credible.
Ritchey was a priest at Lancaster and Bremen parishes in the 1980s. He also was a teacher at Fisher Catholic High School.
A complaint alleging Ritchey sexually abused a minor in 1977 was reported to Victim's Assistance Coordinator Monsignor Stephan J. Moloney. Ritchey was a teacher at Fisher Catholic High School from 1975 to 1982.
The diocese placed Ritchey on administrative leave two days after the complaint was lodged.
This incident is the first time someone has come forward to accuse Ritchey of abuse, according to the diocese.
Church members undoubtedly will have questions and concerns they want the church hierarchy to address. They will have an opportunity Feb. 6 when Moloney will be at St. Bernadette Church's parish office in Lancaster to talk to people and offer assistance.
• Alleged abuse victim testifies against former L.A. priest
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.Union-Tribune, By Linda Deutsch, ASSOCIATED PRESS, January 27, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- A young man who was allegedly molested by ex-priest Michael Wempe testified Friday about two instances of abuse, declaring "I hate Wempe!" and bursting into tears on the witness stand.
The 26-year-old, identified in court as Jayson B., cried and sighed intermittently for over an hour as he related his feelings and detailed the alleged abuse.
"Why do you hate him?" asked Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks.
"He used his relationship with our family and the trust we had in him and my vulnerability to abuse me," said the witness.
Jayson was preceded to the stand by his older brother, Mark.
• Accused priest co-celebrated at C.P. church
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000The Times, Staff Report, nwitimes.com , 12:03 AM CST, Saturday, January 28, 2006
CROWN POINT (IL) -- A Chicago priest accused of sexually abusing children has co-celebrated Masses at St. Mary's Church, but the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary is not investigating the visits.
The Rev. Brian Chadwick, a diocese spokesman, confirmed Thursday that in recent years the Rev. Daniel J. McCormack has helped celebrate baptism and first holy communion Mass at the Crown Point church involving local family members who attend St. Mary's.
Chadwick said the diocese has procedures in place to handle claims that are made, but does not have reason to investigate in this instance.
• Bill requires clergy to report abuse
The Virginian-Pilot, By DEIRDRE FERNANDES, January 28, 2006
RICHMOND, Virginia -- Clergy would have to report child abuse cases to authorities if a bill that barely escaped a Senate committee Friday becomes law.
Two days after police charged a Newport News pastor with contributing to the delinquency of three minor girls and obstructing justice by urging someone else to keep quiet about the alleged sexual abuse, the Senate debated whether to require clergy to speak out.
Under the bill, ministers, priests, rabbis and imams would be placed in the same category as teachers, doctors, police officers and social workers who are required to call in cases of suspected child abuse and neglect. Those who fail to do so within 72 hours could be fined up to $500.
SB253 passed the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee by an 8-6 vote.
The purpose is, "to have more people looking out for our children," said Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax, a bill sponsor.
• Kicanas: 'new dawn' for diocese
[2005-06 Tucson Diocese] - RCC. Trying to sideline assets.Arizona Daily Star, By Stephanie Innes, Tucson, Arizona | Published: Jan.28.2006
TUCSON (AZ) -- Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas is calling it a "new dawn" for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson — all 74 parishes are expected to be separate financial entities by the end of February.
Already 67 of the diocese's parishes have incorporated, a move that occurred after the diocese settled pending sexual-abuse litigation and emerged from federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.
The parishes are separate entities, but Kicanas will sit on all 74 parish boards along with two other clerics — diocesan Moderator of the Curia Al Schifano and the pastor of each church. The five-member parish boards include two lay people; one serves a three-year term, the other a two-year term.
Critics already say the boards have an imbalance of power.
• Archdiocese May Have Been Warned About Priest
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.CBS 2 Jay Levine Reporting, ~ January 28, 2006
CHICAGO (IL), (CBS) -- The Rev. Daniel McCormack, who was arrested last week and charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of two young boys, and a third later made allegations against him.
But CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine has learned that the Cook County state's attorney's office has received contact from a former classmate of McCormack's at Niles College, a pipeline for candidates bound for the priesthood at the seminary in Mundelein.
That former classmate claims that when both he and McCormack were students at Niles College in 1988, he awoke to find his pants pulled down and McCormack standing over him.
Levine has spoken to both the alleged victim and a classmate that victim confided in at the time. Both have asked to remain anonymous, but they confirm the incident recounted for us by others as well.
• Alleged abuse victim testifies against former LA priest
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 males.KTVO, ~ January 28, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- Emotional testimony in Los Angeles against a former priest on trial for sexual abuse.
A 26-year-old man identified as Jayson B cried and shouted that he hated Michael Wempe (WEMP'-ee). The witness said he was fondled twice by the clergyman.
The former priest has admitted he molested 13 boys in the 1970s and '80s but has not been tried in those cases because of a Supreme Court ruling barring extension of the statute of limitations on old cases. The alleged victim's brothers were affected by the ruling.
• Accuser Says Priest Twice Molested Him in Cedars-Sinai Office
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.Los Angeles Times, By Jean Guccione, ~ January 28, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- The 26-year-old man at the center of retired priest Michael Wempe's sexual abuse trial testified Friday that Wempe fondled him in the early 1990s, several years after the priest had been treated for pedophilia and Cardinal Roger M. Mahony had returned him to the ministry.
The man, identified in court as Jayson B., said Wempe molested him twice when he was 11 and 12 as he sat on the priest's lap using a computer in Wempe's office at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where Wempe was a chaplain.
"He at first had a hand on my waist, and eventually moved it to my crotch area," Jayson B. testified, fighting back tears as he spoke for much of his two hours on the stand. "Eventually, he moved his hand from the outside of my pants to underneath and had his hand on my crotch underneath my shorts."
Wempe, 66, faces 16 years in prison if convicted of lewd conduct and oral copulation with Jayson B. He has admitted through his lawyer that he molested Jayson's two older brothers and 11 other boys in the 1970s and 1980s, but has denied sexually abusing Jayson.
• Attorney says more victims of priest will surface soon
Miami Herald, By ROBERTO SANTIAGO, JAY WEAVER AND WANDA DEMARZO, rsantiago@MiamiHerald.com , ~ January 28, 2006
FLORIDA -- Father Neil Doherty would slip something into his victims' drinks to make them sleepy. Then, when they were unconscious, the Catholic priest would assault them, according to documents released Friday.
The Archdiocese of Miami was aware of the priest's history, but instead of removing him, it moved him around -- to different parishes or Catholic agencies, according to attorney Jeffrey Herman, who has filed a $25-million lawsuit on behalf of a Margate man, and is preparing lawsuits for other victims, he said.
"They were also victims of [Rev.] Neil Doherty," said Herman, of Miami. Herman represents five men who claim Doherty molested them while he was a priest.
Doherty, 62, now retired, was denied bond Friday -- a day after Broward Sheriff's deputies charged him with two counts of sexual battery on a child, two counts of indecent assault and one count of lewd or lascivious molestation.
• Ruling keeps court hearing for accused priest open
[~ 1998-2002 Evans] - RCC. Child.Denver Post, By Mike McPhee, ~ January 28, 2006
DENVER (CO) -- A Larimer County district judge ruled Friday that the public will not be shut out of court hearings for a Fort Collins Catholic priest charged with sexual abuse of a male parishioner.
Timothy Evans, 43, who served as a priest and then pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Fort Collins from 1998 to 2002, is charged with four felonies: two counts of sexual abuse of a child by a person in a position of trust, one count of a pattern of sexual abuse, and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
His attorneys, Erik Fischer and David Mestas, had filed a motion to close a preliminary hearing Friday, to which The Denver Post and the Fort Collins Coloradoan objected. Judge Jolene Blair denied the motion, citing the newspapers' objections.
Because of new information that surfaced recently, Blair agreed to a request
by Fischer to continue the preliminary hearing until March 7. Evans, who was ordained in 1993 but stripped of his priestly functions in 2003, remains free on bond.
• Judge refuses to close hearing of priest accused of sexual assault
[~ 1998-2002 Evans] - RCC. Child.The Coloradoan, By SARA REED, SaraReed@coloradoan.com , ~ January 28, 2006
FORT COLLINS (CO) -- The public will be allowed to attend an upcoming hearing in the case of a former Fort Collins Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a child, a judge ruled Friday.
District Court Judge Jolene Blair rejected a motion by lawyers for Timothy Evans, 43, who argued that allowing the public and media into a pretrial hearing could violate his right to a fair trial. She didn't comment on her reasoning.
The motion to close the preliminary hearing was opposed by the Fort Collins Coloradoan and The Denver Post, who argued that barring the public from the pretrial hearing would be an extreme step not supported by evidence. Lawyers for the two papers argued that the defense had other less drastic means to protect Evans' fair-trial rights.
David Mestas, one of Evans' defense attorneys, said he was not surprised by Blair's ruling.
"It's a pretty drastic move for a judge to make," he said, adding that he and his co-counsel, Erik Fischer, worry that the public has been influenced by news regarding the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:06 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Sat January 28, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sun January 29, 2006 edition follows:-
• N.J. woman sues, claiming sexual assault by priest
[~ 2001, 2003, 2004 Gorak, a.k.a. Fisher] - RCC. Women.
Asbury Park Press, www.app.com/ apps/pbcs.dll/ article?AID=/ 20060129/ NEWS03/6012 90428/1007 , THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, January 29, 2006
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A woman has sued the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark and the Diocese of Orlando for $5 million, alleging that a priest who transferred from New Jersey to Florida sexually assaulted her.
The woman, identified in court papers as "Jane Doe," claims the Rev. Wladyslaw Gorak broke into her house in Lakeland in October 2004 and overpowered her, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Orlando. She said she told religious officials that Gorak was harassing and stalking her, but they allegedly ignored her pleas for help.
Gorak was arrested last year on charges of burglary with an assault, false imprisonment, aggravated stalking and battery.
The woman's attorney, Adam Horowitz of Miami, said Gorak's superiors in New Jersey should have known and warned others that Gorak, 49, was a potential problem when it let him work in Florida in 2004. Police reports obtained by Horowitz show that in 2001 a female parishioner in Newark also accused Gorak of stalking.
But James Goodness, a spokesman for the Newark archdiocese, and Carol Brinati, a spokeswoman for the Orlando diocese, both said the dioceses knew of no previous complaints about Gorak. Brinati said the diocese removed Gorak when allegations of wrongdoing surfaced. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:37 AM]
• Perv Victim's Outrage
[1970, and 2000-02 Byrns] - RCC. Boys.
New York Post, By MARIANNE GARVEY, January 29, 2006
NEW YORK -- A man who claims he and his brother were sexually abused by a Catholic priest three decades ago is outraged their alleged attacker will receive no jail time in another child-molestation case.
"I don't know how he's not behind bars," said Bob Lambert of Rev. Joseph Byrns, who was on trial in Brooklyn for allegedly sodomizing an 11-year-old altar boy but pleaded guilty last Monday to misdemeanor child endangerment to avoid jail.
Lambert, 50, said Byrns, 63, preyed on him and his younger brother Tim when Byrns served at St. Anastasia in Douglaston, Queens. Lambert was 14 and Tim 12 at the time. When Bob Lambert came forward with his dark secret in 1997, he learned Tim had suffered the same fate.
• Paedophile priests are Caesar's responsibility, not God's
- RCC.
Independent, by Daphne Caruana Galizia, January 29, 2006
MALTA -- Where there is true separation of Church and State, in the hearts and minds of the people as well as in their legal and political system, priests are not viewed as being above or beyond the law, and nor is the Church seen as a State within a State, with the right to deal with its own criminals as it deems fit or not at all. As long as I live, I will never understand why, in 2006, the Catholic Church in Malta has been permitted to assume the right to investigate criminal acts performed by Catholic priests or by lay workers who operate under its auspices, to the apparent exclusion of intervention by the police, and with the seeming collusion of an indifferent government.
More so, I will never understand how the citizens of this country continue to accept such forms of abuse of the democratic process without so much as a whisper, unless it is because they have been indoctrinated from birth to understand, sometimes even against their better judgement, that the laws of the Catholic Church take precedence over the laws of the land and the principles of democracy.
If so, then we have no right to condemn the Muslims who defend the regime of sharia, wherein the laws of their religion are also the laws of the State, because our thinking is remarkably similar and secularism has had to be forced upon us.
It is a reflection of our lack of sophistication in these matters that, when our children tell us that they have been fiddled about with by a priest or a doctrine instructor, we don't head for Police Headquarters in Floriana, but for the Curia across the road. This is roughly equivalent to going to the headmaster when your child tells you that he has been fondled by a teacher, and letting the buck stop there instead of filing a police report.
• Trial woes plague child abuse case
- Romantic and other links alleged.
Yuma Sun, BY JAMES GILBERT, Jan 28, 2006
ARIZONA -- Critical testimony and newly discovered facts in the case of Donald David Frei, a Yuma man sentenced to prison for child abuse, could overturn his conviction, said his attorney.
The 26-page petition for post conviction relief, a document asking Yuma County Superior Court to dismiss the case against Frei, alleges inappropriate relationships among some of the key figures involved in the case, among them accusations that a detective investigating the case and the mother of the victim were romantically involved.
The document, filed by Frei's attorney, Dale Wren, also asserts that the trial prosecutor served on the pastoral council of a Yuma Catholic church that, just the year before, had to pay a large monetary settlement to Frei to resolve a sexual abuse claim.
• Contrite cardinal offers answers
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.Chicago Sun-Times, BY CATHLEEN FALSANI, Religion Reporter, January 29, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Somberly, in a voice tempered by pain and contrition, Cardinal Francis George for more than an hour Saturday afternoon answered questions from reporters for the first time about the Rev. Daniel McCormack, a Chicago priest who was charged last week with sexually abusing two boys.
"The sins of priests and bishops destroy the church," George said quietly, his eyes cast down at the podium standing between him and phalanx of reporters at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago's Pastoral Center on East Superior. "That is what we're seeing."
The cardinal-archbishop praised a nun for coming forward with an allegation against McCormack from 2000, expressed grief for the priest's wounded flock and acknowledged inadequacies in the way priest's case was handled.
"I'm worried," he said. "I'm worried about the children. I'm worried about a lot of things."
• Priest case will spur review of guidelines
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.Chicago Tribune, By Manya A. Brachear, Tribune staff reporter (Tribune staff reporters David Heinzmann and Jeff Coen contributed to this report), Published January 29, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Prompted by debate over whether Catholic officials waited too long to remove a Chicago priest accused of sex abuse, a national watchdog panel plans to discuss whether current guidelines adequately address cases where the alleged victim chooses to deal exclusively with law enforcement.
Critics say Rev. Daniel McCormack should have been suspended in September from St. Agatha Church, 3147 W. Douglas Blvd., after police received an initial allegation that he had sexually abused a child. Police and prosecutors concluded then that the evidence was not strong enough to charge the priest.
Instead of removing McCormack, the archdiocese told Rev. Tom Walsh, a priest who temporarily lived with McCormack, that an "unfounded allegation" had been reported and asked Walsh to make sure McCormack did not invite children into the rectory, communications director Colleen Dolan said Friday.
McCormack was not removed from ministry until after police arrested him Jan. 20 in a different abuse allegation.
• Cardinal: Process 'failed' in abuse case
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.Chicago Tribune, By Manya A. Brachear, Tribune staff reporter (Tribune staff reporter Andrew Wang contributed to this report), Published January 29, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Cardinal Francis George said the process for protecting children from abuse fell apart when allegations first surfaced against Rev. Daniel McCormack in 2000, enabling the priest to stay behind the pulpit for too long.
"I think we failed in certain instances to respond adequately," George said at a news conference Saturday. "I think there are reasons why we did. It wasn't ill will. There was certainly no cover-up on our part. ... We didn't find out enough. We didn't find out quickly enough."
George put the blame on people who did not follow protocol in 2000 and on other procedures that prevented the archdiocese from removing McCormack from ministry.
"Each time you hope it's not true. And more often than not it turns out to be true," George said. "In this case the process couldn't work."
George intends to ask America's Catholic bishops to revise the 2002 guidelines on handling sex-abuse allegations, which did not address cases when victims or their families bypass church authorities and report only to law-enforcement agencies.
• Victims, priests' rights put church in middle
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.Chicago Tribune, By Manya A. Brachear, Tribune staff reporter, (Tribune staff reporters David Heinzmann and Jeff Coen contributed to this report), Published January 29, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Prompted by debate over whether Catholic officials waited too long to remove a Chicago priest accused of sex abuse, a national watchdog panel plans to discuss whether current guidelines adequately address cases where the alleged victim chooses to deal exclusively with law enforcement.
Critics say Rev. Daniel McCormack should have been suspended in September from St. Agatha Church, 3147 W. Douglas Blvd., when police received an initial allegation that he had sexually abused a child. Police concluded then that the evidence was not strong enough to charge the priest.
Instead of removing McCormack, the archdiocese told Rev. Tom Walsh, a priest who temporarily lived with McCormack, that an "unfounded allegation" had been reported and asked Walsh to make sure McCormack did not invite children into the rectory, communications director Colleen Dolan said Friday.
McCormack was not removed from ministry until after police arrested him Jan. 20 in a different abuse allegation.
The archdiocese said it could not pursue its own inquiry into the first case because police and prosecutors did not share any details of the complaint or subsequent investigation. The family of the accuser also declined to speak with church officials.
• Sins of the father
[Hanley] - RCC.NorthJersey.com , By JOHN CHADWICK, Sunday, January 29, 2006
NEW JERSEY -- James Hanley still has the gregarious personality his young victims found so disarming.
Standing on a Paterson street, he is the picture of bonhomie, telling stories, cracking jokes and playfully barking, "Get outta here" to an elderly female friend who had pulled up in a car and shouted, "You staying out of trouble?"
It has been almost three years since Hanley was forced from the priesthood. Yet he wears a cross, attends Mass and has a bumper sticker on his Toyota Camry: "My Boss is a Jewish Carpenter."
"If anything, the Lord has said ... 'Don't worry, I'll stand by you,' " he said.
But even divine intervention can't undo his past.
James Thomas Hanley is the most notorious clerical sex abuser in northern New Jersey.
• Cardinal George admits mistakes in abuse case
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.Quad-City Times, The Associated Press, January 29, 2006
CHICAGO (IL), (AP) -- A day after being released from a hospital, Cardinal Francis George said Saturday had he known several months ago what he knows now regarding a priest charged with molesting two boys, he would have found a way to remove him from a West Side parish.
The Rev. Daniel McCormack was charged Jan. 21 with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Prosecutors say he repeatedly molested two boys between 2001 and 2005.
McCormack was suspended and removed from St. Agatha Church several days before he was charged, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has said.
But some critics have questioned why McCormack was allowed to remain at the church. The archdiocese has acknowledged that one of the charges stems from an allegation of sexual abuse that was first made in August. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:02 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sun January 29, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Mon January 30, 2006 edition follows:-
• Volunteer Pastor Charged With Abuse Held Without Bond; Authorities Allegedly Find More Incidents Of Abuse
[? 2006 O'Brian] - Disaffiliated from "Catholic Apostolic Church". Woman inmate +.
NBC 4, www.nbc4.com/ news/6586013/ detail.html , UPDATED 4:16 pm EST, January 30, 2006
ARLINGTON, Va. -- A volunteer pastor charged with sexually abusing a patient at an assisted living center in Arlington, Va., will remain behind bars.
Richard O'Brian, 69, appeared in Arlington General District Court Monday but did not enter a plea. But his defense attorney, Daniel Dorsey told News4 reporter Tracee Wilkins his client is innocent until proven guilty.
Dorsey told the judge that his client was not a flight risk, but the judge decided to hold O'Brian without bond.
O'Brian is charged with aggravated sexual battery, punishable by up to 20 years in jail and not more than a $100,000 fine. [...]
In court it was revealed that the victim was a 33-year-old woman who is mentally incapacitated. And the commonwealth attorney stated in court that there were at least 12 reported incidents, News4 reported."
Police said O'Brian told people that he was an ordained priest with the Catholic Apostolic Church in North America. That is an independent church that is not affiliated with the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. The Catholic Apostolic Church was founded in 1945. Its priest do not take a vow of celibacy. There are 2 parishes here in the washington area with more than 100 members.
A bishop with the Catholic Apostolic Church in North America said O'Brian has not had pastoral privileges in 10 years.
He reportedly has been volunteering at the nursing home for 13 years.
O'Brian is due back in court of a preliminary hearing March 16th. # [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:28 PM]
• New Allegations Made Against Priest
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys, another one now. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.WBBM, Steve Miller Reporting, ssmiller@cbs.com , January 30, 2006
CHICAGO (IL), (WBBM Newsradio 780) -- Yet another boy has come forward to say he was molested by a priest from St. Agatha's Catholic Church on the West Side.
Sources tell Newsradio 780 that the boy is 11 years old.
His attorney Jeff Anderson says he took the boy and his parents to talk with investigators from the Cook County State's Attorney's office.
And that office confirms that.
This centers on accusations by the boy that Father Daniel McCormack molested him - more than once - in the past two years.
Anderson read a statement from the boy's mother.
• Gozo Curia says normal procedures followed in Nadur case abuse case
[priest] - RCC. Fled to USA. Child.
Malta Today , www.maltatoday.com.mt/2006/01/29/t11.html , maltatoday@mediatoday.com.mt , by Matthew Vella, ~ January 30, 2006
MALTA -- The Gozo Curia has stated it has followed "normal procedures" according to directives from the Congregation of Rome with respect to accusations of child sexual abuse by a Nadur priest who has fled Gozo in the wake of investigations.
In a letter to MaltaToday, Reverend Anton Refalo, the Curia's public relations officer, said it was not true the Gozo Church had not taken action on serious accusations of sexual abuse mentioned in this newspaper.
Refalo categorically denied that Bishop Nikol G. Cauchi had admitted seminarians who were known to be paedophiles against the better advice of the seminary rector.
Last week this newspaper reported that a Gozitan diocesan priest from the Nadur parish had fled to the United States after complaints of alleged child sex abuse by the priest were referred to the Curia for investigation. [Bolding added.]
• Gozo priest allegations
[priest] - RCC. Fled to USA. Child.Malta Today, by Rev. Anton Refalo, PRO -- Gozo Curia, ~ January 30, 2006
MALTA -- I have been entrusted by Bishop Nikol G. Cauchi to clarify that the report on the anonymous email which appeared in MaltaToday, 22 January 2006, contains several false allegations about the bishop's actions.
He categorically denies that at any time, seminarians known to be paedophiles where admitted to the Gozo Seminary, and never has the bishop accepted this sort of candidate against the advise of the rector, as has been alleged in the report.
It is not true that the Church in Gozo did not take any action, when there were serious accusations about the sexual abuse that was reported.
When anyone reported accusations on such cases to the ecclesiastical authorities these were advised to refer the case to the Response Team which was established to investigate what would have happened. However nobody was kept from taking action or any other measure as permitted by the law.
With respect to the case mentioned in the e-mail, the normal procedures were followed according to the directives of the Congregation of Rome.
• Sex abuse cases prove costly - Oakland Diocese lays off 17 staffers
[Oakland Diocese] - RCC. 12 f/t jobs, 5 p/t. $US 1.2m loss. Clergy abuse.
Inside Bay Area, By Angela Hill, ~ January 30, 2006
OAKLAND (CA) -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland laid off 17 administrative employees Friday to help cover a $1.2 million budget deficit, caused in part by costs related to a huge loan the diocese took out last year to pay settlements in sexual abuse cases.
All of the 17 eliminated positions are in the main diocese administrative offices on Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland, said the Rev. Mark Wiesner, who serves as spokesman for the diocese. The layoffs do not directly affect Catholic schools run by the diocese, cemeteries, the Catholic Voice church newspaper or Catholic Charities, which all run under separate operating budgets from that of the diocese offices.
"We regret the difficulty and pain these decisions will inevitably cause some of our employees ...," the Rev. George Mockel, a vicar general of the diocese, said in a prepared statement. "But unfortunately in light of limited financial resources, these decisions became necessary."
Five of the eliminated positions are part-time, 12 are full-time, Wiesner said. Three of the full-timers took voluntary severance packages.
• Sixth lawsuit claims ex-Indiana priest abused boy
[~ 1970s-80s Monroe] - RCC. 6 boys.The News-Sentinel, By KEN KUSMER, Associated Press, ~ January 30, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS (IN) -- A sixth man has accused a former Roman Catholic priest of molesting him more than 20 years ago at an Indiana parish, and a victims' advocacy group asked current priests to warn their parishioners that the alleged molester still poses a threat.
A lawsuit that was to be filed Monday in Marion Superior Court alleged Harry Monroe abused a boy while assigned to St. Paul Parish in the Ohio River town of Tell City before the Archdiocese of Indianapolis stripped Monroe of his ministry in 1984.
It is the sixth case naming Monroe and the archdiocese as defendants in the past five months. In two of the cases, the plaintiffs allege the abuse occurred while they were minors at the Tell City parish, one of the most remote locations in the 39-county archdiocese.
"This was an act of sacrificing these rural kids to this predatory priest, which is just outrageous," the plaintiffs' attorney, Patrick Noaker of St. Paul, Minn., said in a telephone interview.
• New accusations against Father McCormack
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys, another one now. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.ABC 7, By Sarah Schulte, January 30, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Another victim came forward Monday with new accusations against Father Daniel McCormack. A lawyer for a young boy says Father McCormack molested him more than once.
The Chicago priest is already charged with two counts of criminal sexual abuse. These new accusations were made public Monday by the boy's lawyer, Jeff Anderson. Anderson is well known for representing victims of sexual abuse by priests.
Anderson has filed a report with the police and state attorney's office but apparently has not contacted the archdiocese. The archdiocese says until that happens, and until they get more information from police, they will not comment on the specific abuse allegations.
"He's hurting and scared," said Anderson.
Attorney Jeff Anderson is talking about his latest client, a boy who says he was also abused by Father Dan McCormack. The latest allegation against the priest came to light after the boy told his mother about the abuse this past weekend.
• Witness sobs during testimony in Los Angeles about alleged clergy abuse
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.KESQ, ~ January 30, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- More emotional testimony in Los Angeles from a man who says he was molested a decade ago by ex-priest Michael Wempe (WEMP'-ee).
The 26-year-old accuser described sexual abuse he says took place in the 1990s in Wempe's office and car.
As he burst into tears, the witness declared: "I didn't want anyone to know about this."
Asked why he didn't tell anyone, he said the practice became routine and he couldn't convince himself it was wrong, because Wempe was a trusted priest.
• Jackboots of the Church
- RCC. "Less then 1%" claim by Ratzinger.Counterpunch, By MICHAEL CARMICHAEL, ~ January 30, 2006
UNITED STATES -- Is Judge Samuel Alito a member of Opus Dei?
If so, does it matter? If it matters, why?
A Senate staffer confirmed that the Judiciary Committee received numerous "notes and letters" stating that Judge Samuel Alito is a member of Opus Dei.
A controversial Catholic organization*, Opus Dei is now widely known from the bestseller, The Da Vinci Code, a novel by American author Dan Brown, soon to be a major film starring Tom Hanks that will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
In 1928, a Catholic priest who acquired a doctorate in law, Josemaría Escrivá founded Opus Dei in Spain. Escrivá's juridical attitude to religious doctrine permeates Opus Dei and is the source of its attraction to members of the legal profession. Opus Dei received massive political support after the fascist victory in the Spanish Civil War. Generalissimo Francisco Franco protected and fostered conservative elements within Opus Dei by appointing eight ministers to powerful positions in his government. In Spain, Opus Dei is still regarded as a potent political force. In 2002, Escrivá was canonized.
Why, then, is an Alito membership in Opus Dei of major significance? In addition to his activist record on the federal bench and his conservative ideology, Alito is deemed to be a menace to the balance of power as well as the constitutional rights of Americans. Judge Alito's affiliation with Opus Dei may be a factor in the strident opposition from Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, both progressive Roman Catholics who do not approve of the influence of religious dogma on political ideology. The majority of Americans believe in the separation of church and state, while many religious conservatives such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell would transform America into a theocratic state. Robertson and Falwell are staunch supporters of Judge Alito. ...
In a perceptive article titled "Holy Warriors," Sidney Blumenthal, a former advisor to President Clinton, ascribed Bush's narrow victory over Kerry directly to the political impact of the Ratzinger letter. During his long career at the Vatican, Former Cardinal Ratzinger's decisive handling of complicated problems had become a matter of record. His official investigation of the priestly child abuse scandal involving Catholic clerics gave him the knowledge and understanding of the political and legal dynamics prevalent in Bush's America.
During 2002 and 2003, Former Cardinal Ratzinger had been the Prefect of The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). In previous centuries, the CDF was known as the Inquisition. In his official capacity as Prefect, he was largely responsible for the Vatican's ecclesiastical investigation into thousands of cases of priestly child sexual abuse. Former Cardinal Ratzinger's handling of that scandal has been the subject of substantial analysis and criticism.
At the height of the scandal, Former Cardinal Ratzinger wrote a letter that altered official procedure by reserving all cases of priestly child sexual abuse to the CDF. Prior to Former Cardinal Ratzinger's letter, cases of priestly sexual abuse were not restrained in the exclusive purview of the CDF.
Attorneys for victims of priestly child sexual abuse in Texas argued in court that Former Cardinal Ratzinger's letter was an obstruction of justice. In a public statement, Former Cardinal Ratzinger told the Catholic News Service, "Less than one percent of priests are guilty of acts of this type." Many Catholics view this statement as callous and an attempt to cover-up the scandal. Former Cardinal Ratzinger's apparent indifference to the scandal shocked many Catholics.
Many members of the College of Cardinals harkened to his message of minimizing the importance of the scandal. One Cardinal attempted to place the blame for the scandal on America's reputation for excessive litigation. He stated that attorneys were merely seeking "to make money" from the scandal.
In 2005 shortly after his election to the papacy, Cardinal Ratzinger appeared to promise to make amends for earlier miscalculations in handling the charges of priestly child sexual abuse when he made a public commitment to 'attend' to the scandal. How he intends to resolve the scandal remains to be seen.
• Alleged abuse victim to continue testimony against former priest
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 males.KESQ, ~ January 30, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- An alleged sex abuse victim of ex-priest Michael Wempe will be back in a Los Angeles courtroom this morning to testify against the former clergyman.
The 26-year-old identified in court as Jayson-B recounted two instances of abuse during his testimony on Friday. At one point he burst into tears and declared that he hates the former priest for getting close to his family, and then abusing him.
Wempe's defense acknowledges that he abused two of Jayson's brothers, but he can't be tried for those instances because of time limits on prosecution.
But the crimes that Jayson alleges do fall within the statute of limitations.
• Church members seek answers
[Hawkins] - Baptist. Sexual harassment lawsuit.Jersey Journal, By MARTINA BRENDEL, Monday, January 30, 2006
JERSEY CITY (NJ) -- Congregants of St. John's Baptist Church in Jersey City are demanding answers from church leaders about the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the pastor that may cost the church more than $100,000.
Three members of the congregation walked out during the Rev. Sammie Lee Hawkins's sermon yesterday, while dozens more remained inside, signing a petition calling for a mediated discussion about the issue between church leaders and congregants.
"The people of St. John's know what's going on and we want answers," said Darreth Millers, a board member for 12 years who was among the three who walked out yesterday, and helped spread the word about the petition. "The sad part is that the people who should be giving answers haven't been giving them."
Millers said the purpose of the petition was to convince the pastor and the board to talk about the lawsuit and what it means to the congregation.
"You can't treat us like you'd treat a dog, just because you're the pastor," Millers said. "You have to respect people and give them answers."
• Wanted: new facility to help abused kids
- Rev. Bambrick is abuse survivor, too.Ashbury Park Press, BY A. SCOTT FERGUSON, ~ January 30, 2006
NEW JERSEY -- As Martin Krupnick stood before 50 prosecutors, police officers and supporters of the proposed Monmouth County Child Advocacy Center last week, he wished that they were celebrating the groundbreaking for the new building, or better, the official ribbon cutting.
Instead, Krupnick, a psychologist and chairman of the Friends of the Monmouth County Child Advocacy Center Inc., told the audience at the meeting in Freehold Township that the group would set a goal of 14 months to raise the remaining money to build the state-of-the-art center in Freehold Township.
In the past 20 years, more law enforcement agencies have turned to child advocacy centers as a way to better deal with children who are physically, sexually or mentally abused by adults.
"This will provide them with a comfortable and therapeutic environment instead of shuffling them from one agency to another," the Rev. John Bambrick, a pastor at St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church in Manalapan and a survivor of childhood abuse, said during the meeting.
Krupnick's organization so far has raised about $700,000 of the $6 million needed to construct the 16,000-square-foot building on land donated by the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders on Kozloski Drive and Burlington Road in Freehold Township.
• Admitted molester confronts accusers
[1960s+ Hanley] - RCC. 16 boys.The Star-Ledger, BY JULIA M. SCOTT, Monday, January 30, 2006
PATERSON (NJ) -- Families living on a street in Paterson said they were surprised to learn yesterday that their new neighbor was the man at the center of the state's most notorious case of clergy sex abuse.
The former Rev. James Hanley, who had been living in the two- story house a month, was featured on yellow fliers containing his photo and a warning: "Child sex abuser alert!"
Hanley, who admitted in 2003 to molesting 16 boys as part of a lawsuit that led to a $5 million settlement paid by the Paterson diocese -- the largest by a state diocese -- suddenly drove up as leaflets were being passed out. He jumped out of his car and told the crowd he lied about molesting as many boys as he did, according to media reports.
"If that's what it takes," said Hanley, 70, in a televised newscast. "I was under oath but in order to get it off my back and to get the money you wanted, I said, 'Yes.'"
[LOOKBACK: See: "Accused molester no longer a priest," Star-Ledger, www.nj.com/ search/index.ssf?/ base/news-3/ 1047626038190650. xml?starledger?nnj ; by Brian T. Murray, Mar 14, 2003 ENDS.]
[LOOK FORWARD: "Ex-priest in protective custody," Daily Record, BY ABBOTT KOLOFF, April 14, 2007. ENDS.]
• Tucson parishes to separate financially
[2005-06 Tucson Diocese] - RCC. Trying to sideline assets.The Arizona Republic, Associated Press, Jan. 30, 2006
TUCSON (AZ) -- All 74 parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson will be legally separated by the end of February as the church rebuilds from bankruptcy caused by a slew of priest sexual-abuse lawsuits.
Each parish will incorporate and take legal title to its property, transferring it from the diocese.
The legal separation doesn't mean they'll be run as standalone operations, however. Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas will sit on each parish board, as will diocesan Moderator of the Curia Al Schifano and the pastor of each church. The five-person boards will be rounded out with two lay members.
Kicanas called the move a "new dawn" for the diocese.
But some parishioners already are expressing doubts about the arrangement, which they say leaves power with the diocese and isn't inclusive.
"I would have hoped ... for a more democratic church, and that's not what it has turned out to be," said Tucson Catholic Kenn Block, a retiree. "Ownership is on a local level but control is vested in three members with clerical collars. That also means each board is majority male."
• Group hands out fliers on ex-priest's prison release
[20yrs Rodrigue] - RCC. "Father Tony". Dozens of boys.Daily Bulletin, By Kelly Rush, ~ January 30, 2006
LOMA LINDA (CA) -- Outspoken survivors of sexual abuse by clergy, and the message they spread, have not always been welcome at Catholic churches. They've been spit upon, yelled at and cursed, they said.
In contrast, the reception afforded Sunday to members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Loma Linda wasn't particularly harsh.
Only one person called police, who briefly showed up and then left, and just a handful of others refused fliers or stopped to chastise the group giving out information about a former Ontario priest and convicted child molester who used to lead the congregation.
Edward Anthony Rodrigue, known as Father Tony to some, was let out of state prison last week and was expected to be living in San Bernardino, according to a family member. Rodrigue served eight and a half years of a 10-year sentence for sexually abusing an 11-year-old developmentally disabled boy in Highland.
• Fliers warn of freed abuser
[20yrs Rodrigue] - RCC. "Father Tony". Dozens of boys, 5 or 6 annually.The Press-Enterprise, By SHARON McNARY / Monday, January 30, 2006
CALIFORNIA -- Pat Olivas spent Sunday morning warning worshippers that a former priest convicted of child molestation was living nearby after his release last week from prison.
Olivas, 40, handed fliers to drivers leaving Mass at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Loma Linda.
The fliers depict Edward Anthony Rodrigue, whom Olivas accuses in a lawsuit of molesting him while a priest at St. George Catholic Church in Ontario in the late 1970s.
Meanwhile, inside St. Joseph the Worker Church, the Rev. Ignatius Rodrigues warned attendees at the 11 a.m. Mass to watch for the man they knew as "Father Tony."
• Victims, now men, show ex-Mendham priest no fear
[Hanley] - RCC.Daily Record, www.dailyrecord. com/apps/pbcs. dll/article?AID=/ 20060130/ COLUMNISTS 03/601300320/ 1102/NEWS01 ; ~ January 30, 2006
PATERSON (NJ) -- James T. Hanley, former priest and admitted child molester, walked toward some of his victims with the kind of anger you might expect from a man who has been wronged.
Maybe he was trying to be the old Jim Hanley, his voice loud, telling some victims that they were to blame for what happened decades ago when he was pastor of St. Joseph's parish in Mendham.
Some of his victims say that's the way he was when he was a pastor and they were children.
Now, they are men, a little too old to be bullied that way, and they were handing out "child molester alert" fliers on Sunday along McBride Avenue in Paterson, where Hanley recently moved.
Hanley stopped his car and walked toward victims holding a news conference. The man who has admitted molesting children at various parishes apparently didn't like the bad publicity he's been getting over the past few years. He put his face inches from the father of one of his victims.
'You're a liar'
"You're a liar," Hanley, 69, yelled at Lou Serrano of Mendham, whose son Mark was abused by Hanley and has become a victim's advocate.
"You raped my son," Lou Serrano replied.
• George to seek healing at church
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys, another one now. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.Chicago Sun-Times, BY MAUREEN O'DONNELL, January 30, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Cardinal Francis George said he hopes for healing when he meets today with parishioners at a Chicago church reeling from allegations a popular priest abused two young boys.
George said he plans to listen when he visits St. Agatha, 3147 W. Douglas.
"I want to come and be with them, and encourage them, and then hear what they would like to talk about," he said Sunday. "They're certainly in my concerns and in my prayers. ... You can't heal without some sense of truth, so we'll, we'll explore that together."
The Rev. Daniel McCormack is charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Prosecutors say he fondled one boy multiple times while they were both in the rectory beginning in September 2001, when the boy was 9, until January 2005, when he was 12.
McCormack is also charged with fondling another boy, then 8, on two occasions in December 2003 while alone with him after mass.
• Priest confronts men who claim he sexually abused them as boys
[Hanley] - RCC.Pennsylvania News (comprising Burlington County Times, Bucks County Courier Times, and The Intelligencer), The Associated Press, January 29, 2006
PATERSON. N.J. -- Several men who claim they were molested as boys by Roman Catholic priests came to a city neighborhood Sunday to warn residents about one of the clerics, who has recently moved into the area. They eventually were confronted by the priest, who said he had abused some children during his career but claimed the protesters had exaggerated his actions.
Many of the men claim they were abused from 1968 to 1982 by James T. Hanley, who served at three northern New Jersey parishes. Hanley was removed from the priesthood in 2002, 17 years after church officials learned of complaints against him.
The men, along with several supporters from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), were distributing fliers that detailed their accusations against Hanley when he drove by and saw them, the Daily Record of Parsippany reported.
Hanley then walked toward the group and came face-to-face with Lou Serrano of Mendham, whose son is among those who say Hanley abused them. Hanley angrily told Lou Serrano "you're a liar," but soon admitted having had sexual contact with Serrano's son, Mark, although Hanley said he never forced himself on the youth.
• Sex-abuse case a test for parish's faithful
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys, another one now. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.Chicago Tribune, By Manya A. Brachear, Published January 30, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- The choir sang hymns proclaiming God does not abandon the faithful.
The bishop preached a homily stressing God's power to cast out evil.
The priest sat quietly until his time came to remind parishioners he was there to help them heal.
But not once during mass at St. Agatha Catholic Church in Chicago on Sunday did celebrants utter the name of Rev. Daniel McCormack, the priest removed from the pulpit more than a week ago when Cook County prosecutors charged him with sexually abusing two children.
"You may not be ready today to talk," said Rev. Tom Walsh, acting pastor of St. Agatha, 3151 W. Douglas Blvd. "Maybe there's some anger and some fear and some doubt in you. But you will be someday. Believe me. And we all need to ... That's what the healing process is all about."
As counselors hovered in the back of the sanctuary to meet with parishioners and victims advocates demonstrated outside, Auxiliary Bishop John Manz celebrated mass--a gesture intended to show parishioners that the archdiocese had not turned its back on the 112-year-old North Lawndale parish.
• Defrocked N.J. Priest In Center Of Community Storm
[1968-82, 2006 Hanley] - RCC. > 12 boys. Said "liar."WCBS, Mary Calvi Reporting, ~ January 30, 2006
PATERSON, N.J., (CBS) -- What began as a quiet picket turned into an angry confrontation on Sunday in Paterson.
Victims who say they were sexually abused by a priest were protesting the fact that their abuser had moved into the neighborhood.
The last thing they expected happened.
The admitted abuser confronted them.
Now a defrocked priest, James Hanley admitted to the sexual abuse of more than a dozen boys in the Paterson Roman Catholic Diocese from 1968 to 1982.
Then on Sunday, in front of news cameras from all over the area, Hanley stepped back into their lives, breaking up the protest.
Some of those boys, who are now adults, and their families confronted the man in a bizarre scene that looked like it belonged in the movie of the week.
• Cardinal To Meet With Concerned Parishioners
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys, another one now. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.CBS 2, Kristyn Hartman Reporting, ~ January 30, 2006
CHICAGO (IL), (CBS) -- Cardinal Francis George is set to meet tonight with parishioners from St. Agatha Catholic Church, the site of controversy since its priest was accused of sexual abuse.
The 7 p.m. meeting will be closed to media, CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports. Parishioners will have the opportunity to talk to George about their concerns.
What George needs is courage, critics say.
"We need Cardinal George to step up to the plate and to take the courage to remove predators when he thinks there is a possibility that there could be true allegations," said Barbara Blaine, of Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests, which handed out worksheets Sunday in protest of the accused priest.
The West side church's Rev. Daniel McCormack was arrested last week and charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of two young boys at St. Agatha Catholic Church. A third later made allegations against him. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:49 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Mon January 30, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tue January 31, 2006 edition follows:-
• Ky. Church Abuse Deal May Be $85 Million
[1950s-2000s Covington Diocese clergy] - RCC. ~$US 85m. Sued self-insurance plan. Sex abuse victims.
Leading the Charge, www.leadingthe charge.com/stories/ news-0013 4437.html , By BRETT BARROUQUERE, (Staff and agencies), 31 January, 2006
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A judge approved a settlement of up to $85 million Tuesday between sexual abuse victims and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington, one of the largest deals the church has reached with U.S. parishioners who were molested by clergy.
"Contrary to what might be the case in other dioceses, the court believes that this professed desire is genuine and played a significant role in the diocese‘s decision," Potter wrote in his 15-page ruling.
The diocese had originally agreed to pay up to $120 million to abuse victims, saying it would pay out $40 million and its insurance companies would pay up to $80 million, which would have made it the largest church sex abuse settlement in the country.
The diocese, based in Covington just south of Cincinnati, sued its self-insurance plan to force it to contribute its share to the settlement fund. That case settled in January. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 04:14 PM]
• Molester's neighbors say church should have told them
[1968-82, 2006 Hanley] - RCC. > 12 boys. Said "liar."Star-Ledger, BY JEFF DIAMANT, Tuesday, January 31, 2006
NEW JERSEY -- For almost a decade after he was barred from serving as a Catholic priest for sexually abusing minors, James Hanley lived in a senior citizens housing complex on Day Street in Paterson.
But his move last month to a bigger apartment on McBride Avenue across town has his new neighbors questioning whether the church should have alerted residents and police to his presence.
Church officials said they didn't know until last weekend that Hanley had moved, but even if they had, they said, they would not have said anything.
"He's a civil individual now. He's not a priest," Paterson Bishop Arthur Serratelli said yesterday. "He's been laicized. That's the furthest the church can go -- to basically disconnect someone from the priesthood."
On McBride Avenue, where Hanley lives in the upstairs apartment of a two-story house, his new neighbors had strongly different views.
[RECAPITULATION: That's the furthest the church can go -- to basically disconnect someone from the priesthood. RECAP. ENDS.]
[COMMENT: But for decades the Church officials have had a "disconnect" from the ordinary people, allowing nearly all the child-seducers to move on to other places, even overseas. COMMENT ENDS.]
SPELLCHECKED to here - jcm 1.00pm, 6 Feb 06
• Vosen lawsuit settled
[1989 and 1991, 2005-06 Vosen] - RCC. Sued alleged victim's family. Boy.Baraboo News Republic, By Brian Bridgeford, January 31, 2006
BARABOO (WI) -- A judge brought closure to an unsuccessful defamation suit by Baraboo priest Father Gerald Vosen against a Janesville family last week.
As part of the agreement approved in Rock County Circuit Court Friday, the family will not demand thousands of dollars in legal fees as their lawyer proposed, said Patrick K. McDonald, Vosen's attorney.
In August, a jury rejected Vosen's contention that Peter L. Arnold and his parents, Nancy and LeLand Arnold, defamed him when they claimed Peter was abused by Vosen between 1989 and 1991, while in fifth and sixth grades.
They said abuse took place while Vosen was a priest at St. John Vianney Catholic Church and school in Janesville, according to court records.
Vosen has maintained his innocence.
• Gumbleton resigns as Detroit auxiliary bishop
[1945 priest] - RCC. Whistleblower Gumbleton is eased out.National Catholic Reporter, By DENNIS CODAY, ~ January 31, 2006
DETROIT (MI) -- A year late and under some pressure from the Vatican Congregation for Bishops, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit has submitted his resignation "from the office of auxiliary bishop to Cardinal [Adam] Maida."
Gumbleton turned 75 in January 2005 and should have submitted a letter of resignation at that time. But he didn't.
Instead he wrote the Congregation for Bishops asking that he be allowed to serve as long as he was healthy. The congregation deemed the request unacceptable, and on Jan. 21, after a year of correspondence with the congregation, Gumbleton submitted his resignation. ...
Gumbleton made headlines last month when he lobbied Ohio legislators to extend statute of limitations provisions for cases of sexual abuse of minors, legislation opposed by the Ohio Catholic bishops' conference. Several other state bishops' conferences, including Michigan's, oppose similar legislation in their states.
While in Ohio, Gumbleton revealed that as a teenage seminarian, he was abused by a priest.
He has said his resignation is not related to either his revelation or his support for the statute of limitations legislation.
• Diocese caught off guard by furor
[1968-82, 2006 Hanley] - RCC. > 12 boys. Said "liar."NorthJersey.com , By JOHN CHADWICK, Tuesday, January 31, 2006
PATERSON (NJ) -- The Paterson Diocese, facing questions about why a defrocked priest and admitted child molester is living quietly and unsupervised in a residential neighborhood, promised Monday to review the matter and consider whether it needs to take additional steps to monitor rogue ex-priests.
"I believe we do have a moral obligation to look into this," said the Rev. James T. Mahoney, the vicar general and No. 2 official in the Roman Catholic diocese. "I know of no family that would be comfortable with a sexual abuser living near them."
But as the diocese mulled the issue, some of James T. Hanley's victims began taking matters into their own hands. Mahoney's statement came one day after the victims blanketed Hanley's Paterson neighborhood with leaflets describing his case. They said Monday that was just the beginning.
"He will be looking over his shoulder as long as he is still alive," Ray Skettini said. "Someone has to do it. The church has washed their hands of this."
• Pastor whose ouster caused rift is given Brandeis post
- RCC. Whistleblower Cuenin now gets university chaplaincy.The Boston Globe, By Michael Paulson | January 31, 2006
WALTHAM (MA) -- The Rev. Walter H. Cuenin, the popular pastor of a vibrant Newton parish who was forced to resign over a contested allegation of financial impropriety, is being appointed by the Archdiocese of Boston as Catholic chaplain at Brandeis University.
The appointment, by Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley, could reduce some of the controversy over Cuenin's treatment by the archdiocese; the Brandeis appointment is considered desirable by the priest's supporters, because of his longtime interest in Catholic-Jewish relations.
Two previous occupants of the Brandeis chaplaincy, the late Rev. Robert W. Bullock and the Rev. David C. Michael, have played major roles in shaping the archdiocese's relationship with the Jewish community in Greater Boston.
Cuenin, 60, said he is delighted with the appointment.
''I'm very excited about it, and I'm looking forward to working with the students and faculty at the university," Cuenin said. ''It's a way of being involved in the Jewish community, as I have been for many years, and of working with the Catholic community on that campus."
Cuenin has been living and assisting at St. Julia Parish in Weston since his resignation in September from the job he had held for 12 years, pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians in Newton. The archdiocese said Cuenin violated church rules through the use of a leased Honda Accord and excessive payments for saying Mass. The parish's lay leaders, who had approved the payments, said the accusations were ''unfair and unjust."
Some Catholics believe that Cuenin was punished for his role as a leader of priests critical of archdiocesan management and his support for gay rights; the archdiocese denies that politics played any role in Cuenin's ouster.
The Archdiocese of Boston had no immediate comment.
• Accuser Says He Hid Abuse by Priest
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys.Los Angeles Times, By Jean Guccione, January 31, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- The man whose accusations could finally land admitted molester Michael Edwin Wempe in jail took the witness stand Monday and testified that he hid his abuse by the priest from everybody, even his mother.
The 26-year-old man, identified in court only as Jayson B., said that, at first, he thought it was normal that the priest touched his genitals. "It was Father Mike," he testified. "It was really difficult to think that anything he did could be wrong."
But he became disturbed when the abuse escalated to oral copulation, said Jayson B., who wept through most of his testimony.
"I said, 'What are you doing?' " Jayson B. testified. "And he said that I was a special boy and he loves me."
Wempe is accused of molesting Jayson B. from 1990 to 1995, beginning when Jayson B. was 11, while the priest was working as a chaplain at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
• Victim recalls alleged abuse
[Shifflett] - Baptist. 2 children.Culpeper Star Exponent, by Liz Mitchell, Tuesday, January 31, 2006
VIRGINIA -- For 18 years, Liz Bailey felt she was alone. Now she is the second person to come forward with charges of sexual abuse against Charles Shifflett, the 54-year-old pastor of First Baptist Church of Culpeper.
Bailey, 35, was a member of Shifflett's former church, Calvary Baptist, and student at its K-12 school where he was principal.
In October 2005, the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office began an investigation of Shifflett, prompted by a church member who aired concerns about how the school was run, according to Sgt. Jim Fox.
The ongoing investigation has landed Shifflett in Culpeper County Jail three times this month on charges of child injury, endangerment and indecent liberties.
The past two jail bookings resulted when Chad Robison, 29, and Bailey took out arrest warrants claiming Shifflett victimized them when they attended his school.
• Diocese staff cut on heels of abuse payouts
[Oakland Diocese] - RCC. $US 1.2m deficit. 12 f/t jobs, 5 p/t.Alameda Times-Star, By Angela Hill, ~ January 31, 2006
OAKLAND (CA) -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland has laid off 17 administrative employees in its chancery offices to help cover a $1.2 million budget deficit.
Church officials say the deficit was caused in part by costs related to a $23 million loan the diocese took out last year to pay settlements in sexual abuse cases.
All 17 eliminated positions are in the main diocese offices on Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland, said the Rev. Mark Wiesner, who serves as diocesan spokesman.
Friday's layoffs did not directly affect Catholic schools or cemeteries run by the diocese, the Catholic Voice church newspaper or Catholic Charities, which all run under separate operating budgets from that of the chancery offices.
• Cardinal apologizes to parishioners
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys, another one now. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.Chicago Sun-Times, BY KAREN HAWKINS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, January 30, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- An apologetic Cardinal Francis George met Monday evening with parishioners of a West Side church that was home to a priest now charged with molesting two boys, and many parents took the opportunity to lash out at how the archdiocese handled the affair.
"I'm glad to be with you, but I'm sorry to be with you because this occurrence is one that shames me certainly," George told several dozen people gathered at St. Agatha Church for a nearly two-hour meeting.
The Rev. Daniel McCormack was charged Jan. 21 with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Prosecutors say he repeatedly molested two boys between 2001 and 2005, and they confirmed Monday they're looking into more allegations.
McCormack was suspended and removed from St. Agatha several days before he was charged, but parents at Monday's meeting repeatedly questioned George about why McCormack was not removed sooner.
• Cardinal faces angry parishioners
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys, another one now. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.Chicago Tribune, By Manya A. Brachear, Published 11:01 PM CST, January 30, 2006,
CHICAGO (IL) -- As authorities investigated a new allegation that a West Side priest repeatedly abused a minor, Cardinal Francis George on Monday night faced angry parishioners at the church the priest once led.
"I'm sorry to be with you because this occasion is one that shames me certainly," George said.
The crowd of more than 200 at St. Agatha Catholic Church hammered him with the same question again and again about the abuse allegations against Rev. Daniel McCormack that date back to 2000: Why didn't we know sooner?
The emotional meeting came on the same day that another allegation against Rev. Daniel McCormack surfaced, at least the fifth in less than two weeks.
• Triple whammy against sex abuse
[Catholic Church in Colorado] - RCC. Accused of inaction.Rocky Mountain News, By Jean Torkelson, January 31, 2006
COLORADO -- Three bills before the legislature would put churches and nonprofits embroiled in sex-abuse cases on an even bigger hook when it comes to damages and the statute of limitations.
A bill introduced Friday by Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon, would allow sex-abuse lawsuits even against a dead person.
"The whole premise behind (these bills) would allow people to bring up charges even on an old incident," said Sen. Paula Sandoval, D-Denver, who co-sponsored a house bill with Rep. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver.
The legislation comes at a time of heightened concern about clergy abuse. The Catholic Church in Colorado is facing more than two dozen lawsuits alleging that church officials knew of sexual-abuse allegations against priests but failed to protect children.
• Priest says accuser's attorney defamed him
- RCC. Suspended Guichard claims lawyer defamed him.Miami Herald, By JAY WEAVER, jweaver@MiamiHerald.com , ~ January 31, 2006
MIAMI (FL) -- A Catholic priest suspended by the Archdiocese of Miami because of sexual-abuse allegations has filed a defamation lawsuit against an attorney representing one of his accusers.
The Rev. Alvaro Guichard, 65, claims lawyer Jeffrey Herman defamed him at a Sept. 22, 2004, press conference, when the attorney announced settlements of several sex-abuse lawsuits against the archdiocese -- some involving Guichard.
Herman recently moved to dismiss Guichard's defamation suit, filed in November in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.
Herman allowed Guichard to stay at the press conference after Guichard crashed the gathering at Herman's Aventura law office. An ensuing confrontation nearly resulted in fisticuffs between Guichard and the brother of one of the priest's alleged victims.
• Ex-priest apologizes
[20yrs Rodrigue] - RCC. "Father Tony". Dozens of boys. 5 or 6 boys annuallyThe Press-Enterprise, By MICHAEL FISHER / 12:12 AM PST on Tuesday, January 31, 2006
CALIFORNIA -- Edward Anthony Rodrigue, a former Inland priest and twice-convicted child molester, apologized Monday to the children he abused during his nearly 20 years as a Catholic cleric.
"To those I have been involved with, I am genuinely sorry for their problems, for those I've known and the unknown," says Edward Anthony Rodrigue, standing outside his room at a downtown San Bernardino motel. A twice-convicted child molester, Rodrigue has lived at the motel since being paroled from prison on Wednesday.
"To those I have been involved with, I am genuinely sorry for their problems, for those I've known and the unknown," Rodrigue, 69, said standing outside his room at a downtown San Bernardino motel, where he has lived since being paroled from prison on Wednesday. "It upsets me that there are a few (accusers) that I don't know."
Rodrigue has spent the last 8˝ years behind bars, after he pleaded no contest to molesting an 11-year-old, developmentally disabled boy in Highland. Rodrigue had been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Rodrigue told detectives he molested five or six boys annually while a priest, according to a copy of a 1997 San Bernardino County sheriff's report.
• Group urges warning on priest
[1983-84 Monroe] - RCC. Boy/s.Indianapolis Star, By Robert King, robert.king@indystar.com , ~ January 31, 2006
INDIANA -- A group that supports sex abuse victims says it will ask hundreds of priests in the Indianapolis archdiocese to warn their congregations about a priest now facing six abuse lawsuits.
The latest, filed Monday on behalf of anonymous plaintiff John Doe KW, alleges the Rev. Harry Monroe abused a teenage boy at St. Paul's parish in Tell City from 1983-84.
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis and the parish were named as defendants, too.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests says it will write priests this week to ask that they warn their flocks that Monroe, now 57 and believed to be living in Tennessee, could return to familiar places. The letter also asserts that Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein has done too little to warn those parishes.
Monroe served in Tell City, Terre Haute and three Indianapolis parishes -- St. Monica, St. Andrew the Apostle and St. Catherine.
• Cardinal: I should've done more
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys, another one now. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.Chicago Sun-Times, BY LISA DONOVAN AND FRANK MAIN, January 31, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Cardinal Francis George was peppered with the same question again and again Monday night: Why would a priest interrogated by police about allegations of child molestation be allowed to continue teaching and ministering at a Roman Catholic church and school?
The head of the Archdiocese of Chicago, George told the approximately 300 gathered at St. Agatha Catholic Church, 3147 W. Douglas, for about two hours that he was sorry -- that he should have done more to make sure the Rev. Daniel McCormack abided by a church order not be be alone with children.
"I'm truly sorry you had as a pastor ... a person who was accused of being a child molester," George said, describing the allegations against McCormack, if true, as "destructive of the soul and destructive of the church."
• Another alleged sex-abuse victim of McCormack comes forward
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys, another one now. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.Chicago Sun-Times, BY CATHLEEN FALSANI AND FRANK MAIN, January 31, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Another Chicago boy Monday told Chicago Police and prosecutors that he had been sexually abused by the Rev. Daniel McCormack, a Roman Catholic priest who was charged earlier this month with molesting two boys at St. Agatha Parish in North Lawndale.
The boy, 11, who attends a Chicago public school and not St. Agatha's parochial school, told authorities that McCormack abused him and gave him gifts, a law enforcement source said, adding, "What he was saying was consistent with the other" allegations against the priest.
On Jan. 21, prosecutors charged McCormack with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly fondling the genitals of two boys -- an 8-year-old (now 11) from Willowbrook on two occasions in December 2003 when they were alone in St. Agatha Church after mass, and a 9-year-old (now 13) who claims the priest molested him two to three times a month from September 2001 to January 2005.
• Witness testifies against priest through tears
[1970s-90s Wempe] - RCC. 14 boys (13 admitted).Monterey County Herald, By LINDA DEUTSCH, Associated Press, ~ January 31, 2006
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- A man who claims he was sexually abused by a priest in the 1990s cried for most of three hours on the witness stand Monday, declaring at one point, ''I didn't want anyone to know about this.''
The 26-year-old witness, identified as Jayson B., described five instances of sexual abuse he said Michael Wempe subjected him to. He said they took place about a year apart, once at Wempe's office at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and other times in parking garages in Wempe's car.
He said he didn't tell anyone what had happened, adding Wempe's long-standing relationship with his family made him a figure of trust.
''It was Father Mike. It was difficult to think anything he could do was wrong,'' he testified during his second day on the witness stand.
Wempe has admitted molesting 13 other boys in the 1970s and '80s, including Jayson's two brothers, but cannot be tried in those cases because the statute of limitations has expired.
He has denied molesting Jayson B., however, and his lawyers say the man fabricated the charges in an effort to seek vengeance for his brothers.
• Cardinal hears parents' rage
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys, 5th complaint in 2 weeks. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000.Chicago Tribune, By Manya A. Brachear, Tribune staff reporter (Tribune staff reporters Jeff Coen and David Heinzmann contributed to this report), Published January 31, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- As authorities investigated a new allegation that a West Side priest repeatedly abused a minor, Cardinal Francis George on Monday night faced angry parishioners at the church the priest once led.
"I'm sorry to be with you because this occasion is one that shames me certainly," George said.
The crowd of more than 200 at St. Agatha Catholic Church hammered him with the same question again and again about the abuse allegations against Rev. Daniel McCormack that date back to 2000: Why didn't we know sooner?
The emotional meeting came on the same day that another allegation against McCormack surfaced, at least the fifth in less than two weeks.
The latest abuse occurred over the last 24 months and happened repeatedly, said Jeff Anderson, the lawyer for the latest alleged victim.
Neither Anderson nor law enforcement officials would rule out the possibility that some of the alleged abuse took place while McCormack was being monitored by the Chicago Catholic Archdiocese. The archdiocese appointed a priest to monitor McCormack's contact with children at the rectory after the first allegation was made against him in August.
• Tension surrounds cardinal
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Boys, 5th complaint in 2 weeks. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000. RCC permitted police suspect to teach, preach.Daily Southtown, By Lisa Donovan and Frank Main, Special to the Daily Southtown, Tuesday, January 31, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Cardinal Francis George was peppered with the same question again and again Monday night: Why would a priest interrogated by police about allegations of child molestation be allowed to continue teaching and ministering at a Roman Catholic school?
The head of the Archdiocese of Chicago, George told the approximately 300 gathered at St. Agatha Catholic Church on the West Side that he was sorry -- that he should have done more to make sure Rev. Daniel McCormack abided by a church order not be alone with children.
"I'm truly sorry you had as a pastor ... a person who was accused of being child molester," George said, describing the allegations against McCormack -- if true -- as "destructive of the soul and destructive of the church."
There are 750 families in the parish at 3147 W. Douglas, which includes Our Lady of the West Side School. Most at the meeting offered tense but polite reverence to George as he met for more than two hours with them about the abuse allegations dating back five years.
• Boy, 11, says he was sexually abused by Rev. McCormack
- RCC. [? < 2000-05 McCormack] - Lawyer Anderson acting. Boys, 5th complaint in 2 weeks. [? < 2000-06 Chicago Archdiocese] - Nun 'blew whistle' in 2000. RCC permitted police suspect to teach, preach.Daily Southtown, By Cathleen Falsani and Frank Main, Special to the Daily Southtown, Tuesday, January 31, 2006
CHICAGO (IL) -- Another Chicago boy Monday told Chicago police and prosecutors that he had been sexually abused by the Rev. Daniel McCormack, a Roman Catholic priest who was charged earlier this month with molesting two boys at St. Agatha Parish in North Lawndale.
The boy, 11, who attends a Chicago public school, told authorities that McCormack abused him and gave him gifts, a law enforcement source said.
On Jan. 21, prosecutors charged McCormack with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly fondling the genitals of two boys -- an 8- and a 9-year-old.
The 11-year-old boy and his parents took their allegations to police and prosecutors Monday with their attorney, Jeff Anderson of Minnesota, who is probably the preeminent lawyer in the nation representing alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse.
In the last 20 years, Anderson has sued more than half of the Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States.
Jim Dwyer, a spokesman for the Chicago archdiocese, said Monday evening that church officials had not yet been contacted by the family of the 11-year-old boy or by his attorney, Anderson. "We want him to come forward and everyone else to come forward," Dwyer said.
• Roman Catholic Bishops Bill Deals With Child Sexual Abuse
[3 RC bishops] - RCC. Hiding truth.TheDenverChannel.com , ~ January 31, 2006
DENVER (CO) -- Colorado's three Roman Catholic Bishops issued a joint statement criticizing a measure that would lift the statute of limitation for child sexual abuse lawsuits for two years.
"On a matter as ugly and grave as the sexual abuse of minors, exactly the same civil and criminal penalties, financial damages, time frames for litigation and statutes of limitations should apply against both public and private institutions and their agents," the statement said issued Monday said.
It was signed by Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs and Bishop Arthur Tafoya of Pueblo.
Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald and House Majority Leader Alice Madden introduced their measure Friday making it easier for victims to sue the church and other private groups by extending the statute of limitations in cases in which an institution or another person could be held "vicariously liable" for a perpetrator's acts.
• Suspended Miami priest sues for defamation
- RCC. Guichard suing for defamation.Herald-Tribune, The Associated Press, ~ January 31, 2006
MIAMI (FL) -- A Catholic priest suspended by the Archdiocese of Miami because of sexual-abuse allegations says he was defamed by one of his accusers' attorneys.
The Rev. Alvaro Guichard, 65, is suing Jeffrey Herman for statements made during a Sept. 22, 2004 news conference at Herman's office in Aventura. At the conference, Herman was announcing settlements involving the archdiocese and several sex-abuuse lawsuits. Guichard showed up unexpectedly, which started a verbal argument.
Guichard claimed he was defamed when Herman said "you raped and sodomized their family member."
The priest responded by saying all lawsuits against him are false.
"This (defamation) suit creates an opportunity to publicly litigate the claims even though the Archdiocese of Miami already settled the lawsuits," Herman said.
• Trial date set for clergy sexual abuse cases in Worcester.
[Worcester Diocese] - RCC.Worcester Voice, ~ January 31, 2006
WORCESTER (MA) -- On January 26, 2006 Worcester Superior Court Judge, Jeffrey Locke held a status conference in regards to clergy abuse cases still hanging in limbo within the Worcester Superior court dockets.
During the status hearing of January 26, 2006 a motion to dismiss under rule 12 was presented by the defendant in the Chesnis v Law et al case, Judge Locke has taken the motion under advisement.
A Hearing on a motion to dismiss, presented by the defendants on rule 12 was scheduled for July 27, 2006 in the case of Doe No 101 v Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester. Boston Attorney Carmen Durso represent the plaintiff. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:52 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Tue January 31, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont120.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Sex charges dropped against church worker in Ontario, Canada - Church of God's Swarath freed.
Sex charges dropped against church worker in Ontario, Canada
Ross Institute, www.rickross. com/reference/ clergy/clergy 286.html , News Summary / By Rick Ross, January 31, 2006
SARNIA (Ontario), Canada: All criminal charges were dropped against a church worker in Sarnia, Ontario.
Sarnia police arrested Stephen Ray Swarath, on June 4, 2004 and charged him with five counts of sexual assault after a young female member of the Sarnia Church of God complained to police.
Swarath was later released on bail.
Charges against Swarath stemmed from claims made by the alleged victim regarding incidents that supposedly took place between May 1 and June 4 of 2004, which involved a minor according to police.
Swarath reportedly served as an assistant youth pastor of the Sarnia Church of God located at 102 College Ave. S, during 2004.
Swarath's father, Rev. Bali Swarath, was reportedly the head pastor of the church at that time.
The Sarnia Church of God is a denominational Pentecostal church, Andrew Binda, a Church of God spokesperson told the London Free Press.
Binda would not comment specifically about the charges against Stephen Swarath.
"We do not advocate or condone that type of behavior," he said.
Binda also told the press that Stephen Swarath was not a youth pastor at the church, but instead only a volunteer.
A police investigation reportedly took place.
All criminal charges were dropped against Stephen Ray Swarath on February 28, 2005 according to court records.
Note: This news summary is largely based upon a previous published article titled "Church worker faces charges" by April Kemick, published by the London Free Press, June 9, 2004
* marks clergy etc. who were not known to the public, and probably/possibly not included in previous overall statistics of numbers of seducing etc. clergy.
Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker SIGN-UP: www.ncrnews.org/abuse/signup.php for daily e-mails
or click Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse for current on-line
The Boston Globe book: http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse USA
Weblog at: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethicscontents.htm
Books list: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/carnalbooks.htm
Overview at: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/minilist.htm
Books Melbourne: http://www.j23.com.au Australia
Books Perth: pbpress@iinet.net.au Australia
US Archive: www.BishopAccountability.org
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* Inaccurate 015947 = "The Seattle P-I inaccurately reports findings in deposition," The Spectator, www.spectator- online.com/vnews/ display.v/ART/ 2006/01/11/ 43c5e3f2 f32aa , by Canda Harbaugh, January 11, 2006. CORRECTION. WASHINGTON -- A Seattle Post-Intelligencer article that President Stephen Sundborg regarded as "inaccurate" and "inflammatory" and the P-I's managing editor labeled "incomplete". A sentence "While I could never reveal anything said to me by a Jesuit in a 'manifestation of conscience,' I could have and would have acted to guarantee that young persons were protected, if ever sexual abuse of children were mentioned" was in the newsitem as written by the reporter, but the paper says was accidentally left out in the newspaper. CORRECTION
* Nun report = "Nun: I reported priest in 2000," Chicago Sun-Times, www.suntimes. com/output/ news/cst-nws- priest26.html , BY CATHLEEN FALSANI AND FRANK MAIN, January 26, 2006: CHICAGO (IL) -- A nun who worked at Chicago's Holy Family Catholic School -- where the now-arrested Rev. Daniel McCormack used to say mass for students once a week -- has told the Chicago Sun-Times she alerted officials of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago of her concerns about the priest's behavior with children as early as winter 2000. [He remained in position until his arrest that week, according to a news report of January 21, 2006]
* Solicitation 015983 = Solicitation secret instruction of 1962, Crimen Sollicitationis, operates, and similar orders date back to 1561, according to an amendment to a legal claim in the USA, under which Father Hoatson of Newark is suing his own archbishop and various other RCC leaders. -- "Newark priest's lawsuit amended," Renew America, www.renew america.us/ columns/ abbott/ 060113 , by Matt C. Abbott, January 13, 2006
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