Special investigation: New Zealand'™s shameful record of child abuse

 And this is why New Zealand should be looking into... A Royal Commission Inquiry into rape and child abuse. in catholic homes and orphanages... state home and state family home across the board...  Ann

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These children have died as a result of neglect, abuse, or maltreatment in New Zealand.  New Zealand remains one of the most dangerous countries in the developed world in which to grow up, despite efforts from successive governments.
Thirteen Kiwi kids have died in suspicious circumstances so far this year – one of the worst years on record and much higher than the annual average of nine.  Every second day, a child is admitted to hospital suffering from inflicted injuries, including burns, broken bones and head wounds – with Starship children's hospital in Auckland seeing more cases of serious abuse than ever before.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/73717177/special-investigation-new-zealands-shameful-record-of-child-abuse 

Ex-priest alleges Mexican cardinal didn’t report abuse

In this February 5, 2014 file photo, former Catholic priest Alberto Athie holds up a book he coauthored about the founder of the Legionnaires of Christ, Marcial Maciel, during a news conference in Mexico City. In a press conference on Friday, June 2, 2017, Athie said that Mexico City’s Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera violated the law by not informing authorities outside the church about at least 15 cases of abusive priests. 

Former priest, Alberto Athie, alleges that Cardinal Norberto Rivera, archbishop of Mexico City covered up at least 15 cases of priest sex abuse. Athie brought allegations of abuse in the late 90s against Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ who was eventually removed.

https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2017/06/04/ex-priest-alleges-mexican-cardinal-didnt-report-abuse/ 

There are 33 boys in this Grade 4 photo. Twelve of them took their own lives.

Trigger warning: This post includes graphic details of child sexual assault and may be triggering for some readers.
Phillip Nagle is just one of countless victims of a paedophile ring operating in the regional Victorian city of Ballarat during the ’60s and ’70s.
He was also the first of five victims called to give evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which began its first public hearings in Ballarat this week.
While each account was disturbing, one faded old picture displayed by Mr Nagle to the courtroom perfectly encapsulated the torment caused by child sex abuse.

http://www.mamamia.com.au/ballarat-royal-comission/ 

'His legacy was pushing justice':

Anthony Foster left a legacy by 'pushing justice' for child sex abuse survivors in the Catholic church, his state funeral in Melbourne has heard.

Brian Foster, with his sister Carol Burckhardt, spoke of their beloved brother who loved his family. 'His greatest campaign is on child sex abuse for people in the Catholic Church. This is his legacy, pushing justice,' Mr Foster told the funeral on Wednesday.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4579466/Anthony-Foster-funeral-Melbourne.html

Anthony Foster's legacy for abuse victims

Anthony Foster's fight for justice for his family has become his legacy for all child sex abuse survivors. Mr Foster was a rare man who, with his wife Chrissie, spent more than two decades pursuing justice for victims at enormous personal cost, his state funeral heard.
He became a tireless advocate for all child sex abuse survivors and their families after two of his daughters, Emma and Katie, were raped by one of Melbourne's worst pedophile priests Father Kevin O'Donnell.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/35781068/abuse-victims-advocate-farewelled-in-vic/#page1 

Archbishop Philip Wilson failed in third bid for permanent stay against conceal charge

FORMER Hunter priest Archbishop Philip Wilson, the most senior Catholic cleric in the world to be charged with concealing the child sex crimes of another priest, has failed in his third bid to stop the case against him from proceeding.
The NSW Court of Appeal on Tuesday dismissed Archbishop Wilson’s latest appeal, rejecting claims from his barrister Bret Walker, SC, that the charge against him was invalid because of changes to the law since 1971, when Hunter priest Jim Fletcher is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 10-year-old boy at Maitland.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4712843/strike-three-archbishop-fails-again-in-bid-to-stop-case/?cs=305#slide=1

Catholic Church funded abuser's court battle

A Catholic order's leader dropped to his knees and begged a brother to face child sex abuse charges in New Zealand yet still paid to take the extradition battle as far as Australia's highest court.
Brother Timothy Graham believes his predecessor as provincial of the Hospitaller Order of St John of God should not have funded the three-year extradition fight.

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/nsw/2017/02/22/catholic-church-funded-abuser-s-court-battle.html

10 things about Fr Maskell, Irish-American priest at centre of Netflix murder documentary The Keepers

NETFLIX’S latest documentary series, The Keepers, examines the case of Sister Catherine ‘Cathy’ Cesnik, a nun who was murdered after disappearing in Baltimore on November 7, 1969.
Her body was found on January 3, 1970 having suffered a skull fracture from a blow to the head. The show examines whether there is a link between her murder and allegations of abuse at a school she taught, Archbishop Keough High School.

http://irishpost.co.uk/10-things-fr-maskell-irish-american-priest-centre-netflix-murder-documentary-keepers/ 

Retired Anglican priest accused of sexual assault on teenager is found dead

Police find body of Trevor Devamanikkam at his home after he failed to appear in court to answer allegations of
A retired Church of England vicar accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy more than three decades ago has been found dead after failing to appear in court on Tuesday.
Police discovered the body of Trevor Devamanikkam, 70, when they went to his home in Witney, Oxfordshire, to arrest him sexually abusing teenage boy in the 80s.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/07/retired-anglican-priest-accused-of-sexual-assault-on-teenager-is-found-dead

Judge: former Priest John Feit will stand trial in Hidalgo County

The former priest accused of killing a McAllen beauty queen will head to trial in Hidalgo County.
Attorneys for Priest John Feit — who's charged with the murder of McAllen beauty queen Irene Garza in April 1960 — wanted the murder trial moved, arguing wall-to-wall media coverage would make finding an impartial jury difficult.
Prosecutors, though, fought for the trial to take place where the murder occurred: in Hidalgo County.

http://valleycentral.com/news/local/judge-former-priest-john-feit-will-stand-trial-in-hidalgo-county 

Cardinal George Pell declares innocence from the Vatican over abuse allegations

Cardinal George Pell has proclaimed his innocence as detectives in Australia investigate abuse allegations against him.  “I’d just like to restate my innocence, I stand by everything I’ve said in the Royal Commission,” he told 9NEWS outside the Vatican this afternoon.
“We have to respect due process, and wait until it’s concluded. Obviously I’ll co-operate fully.” The cardinal did not answer directly when asked whether he would return to Australia amid investigations over historical sex abuse allegations against him.

http://www.9news.com.au/world/2017/05/17/18/08/cardinal-george-pell-declares-innocence-from-the-vatican-over-abuse-allegations

Police weigh abuse charges after Pell inquiry

Australian police say they are considering whether to lay charges following a child abuse investigation which involved the Vatican's Australian-born treasurer, Cardinal George Pell.
Pell, who before his Vatican appointment was Archbishop of Sydney, has rejected any involvement in alleged child abuse in Australia, which local media have reported date from the 1970s to the 1990s.

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/world/police-weigh-abuse-charges-after-pell-inquiry 

George Pell demands apology over child sexual abuse claims

Cardinal George Pell has slammed allegations made about him in a new book, describing it as “character assassination” and an “interference with the course of justice”.
Lawyers representing the cardinal have demanded an apology and retraction from media outlets Fairfax and The Guardian over articles detailing the child sexual abuse claims made in ABC journalist Louise Milligan’s book Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell.

https://startsat60.com/trending/news/george-pell-demands-apology-over-child-sexual-abuse-claims 

Caranua used survivors’ redress funds to pay for offices

Caranua, the independent State body established to distribute religious funding to survivors of institutional abuse, has been paying for office space despite having told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) it was not.

According to a letter to the PAC, seen by The Irish Times, Caranua paid more than €50,000 in the past year from a fund it manages to enhance abuse survivors’ lives, for office space.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/caranua-used-survivors-redress-funds-to-pay-for-offices-1.3091111#.WSLC-A9LGBE.facebook

The Keepers Netfix Release

Fans of true crime stories are in for a treat with Netflix's upcoming release of The Keepers. The seven-part docuseries, which investigates the 1969 murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik, a beloved teacher at an all-girls Catholic school in Baltimore, presents an engrossing tale of corruption, abuse, religious hypocrisy and citywide conspiracy. Here's what you need to know before the show premieres Friday:

https://mic.com/articles/177303/the-keepers-netflix-release-4-things-to-know-about-the-murder-of-sister-cathy-cesnik#.URA8bKapJ 

Australia police mull abuse charges against Pope aide

Australian police were Wednesday deciding whether to charge Vatican finance chief George Pell over historic sex abuse allegations after receiving final advice from prosecutors.
Cardinal Pell, Australia's most senior Catholic cleric, was interviewed in Rome by Australian detectives last October over the assault claims, which he has strenuously denied.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-4513236/Australia-police-mull-abuse-charges-against-Pope-aide.html 

Catholic priest charged, accused of sexually abusing minors in Charleston during 1980s

A New York Catholic priest has been arrested and charged, accused of sexually abusing two boys while he was serving as a volunteer in a Charleston church more than 30 years ago.
Freddy Washington, 53, was arrested by Charleston Police and booked into the Al Cannon Detention Center on Thursday. Washington is charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, and one count of committing lewd acts on a child under 14.

http://www.abccolumbia.com/2017/06/02/catholic-priest-charged-with-sexually-abusing-minors-in-charleston-during-1980s/ 

Lawsuit alleges Temple Baptist Church leaders turned blind eye to woman’s abuse

A woman in her 30s is suing Temple Baptist Church of Santa Fe, saying that as a child she was molested by two teachers at a school run by the church in the 1990s.
After years of abuse, the woman’s complaint says, she married and had children with one of her abusers — whom she says was the grandson of church leaders — and didn’t realize until she had a “triggering event” in 2015 that what had been done to her was wrong and illegal.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/lawsuit-alleges-temple-baptist-church-leaders-turned-blind-eye-to/article_a090f406-b9c8-5af4-8e40-40aaf690f687.html 

Charleston church volunteer turned priest accused of sexual abuse

Charleston police have arrested a New York Priest accused of sexually abusing two boys more than 30 years ago. According to arrest records, 53-year-old Freddy Washington is charged with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of committing lewd act on a child under 16 years of age.

Washington was not a priest at the time of the allegations but his attorney, Eduardo Curry, tells us he was a volunteer at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.

http://counton2.com/2017/06/02/charleston-church-volunteer-turned-priest-accused-of-sexual-abuse/ 

Cardinal Pell to ordain 10 transitional deacons for the ordinariate

The 10 men are expected to be ordained as priests next year Cardinal George Pell is to ordain 10 men as deacons for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham next month.

The group includes two men who are in their fifth year of studies for the priesthood and are on course to become the first clergy who have undertaken their entire formation within the ordinariate.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/05/26/cardinal-pell-to-ordain-10-transitional-deacons-for-the-ordinariate/ 

Latest sex abuse victim: "I forgive you"

Francis Charfauros says it was the testimony of Roy Quintanilla, who says the late Father Jack Niland ignored his cry for help when Quintanilla was sexually abused, that gave him the courage to finally share his story.

Guam - After numerous sex abuse lawsuits being filed by victims who have chosen to conceal their identities. The latest comes from a man who revealed his identity, noting that he now just wants closure.

http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/local/13589 

Traumatised’ abuse survivor getting loan to pay back redress money

William Gorry (51) has been so “traumatised” by recent comments from Caranua’s chief executive Mary Higgins, that he plans to get a loan and pay the funding he received from the organisation, back.

In an interview with The Irish Times in March, Ms Higgins said some survivors applying for grants from the fund would “never be happy” and that their grievances with Caranua “suit a narrative”. 

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/traumatised-abuse-survivor-getting-loan-to-pay-back-redress-money-1.3091132 

Archdiocese reaffirms church fully cooperated with 1969 murder investigation

As Netflix prepares to release a seven-part documentary May 19 about the unsolved 1969 murder of a Baltimore nun, officials of the Archdiocese of Baltimore reaffirmed that the church did not attempt to interfere in the investigation of the death of School Sister of Notre Dame Catherine Cesnik.
Sister Cathy, as she was known, had been a popular teacher at Archbishop Keough High School in the 1960s. She was on a year’s leave of absence from the School Sisters of Notre Dame to teach in the Baltimore public school system when she was reported missing after she left her apartment Nov. 7, 1969, and never returned, the Catholic Review reported Jan. 9, 1970.

http://www.catholicreview.org/article/news/local-news/archdiocese-reaffirms-church-fully-cooperated-with-1969-murder-investigation 

George Pell on child sexual assault allegations: ‘I’d just like to restate my innocence’

Cardinal George Pell maintains he is innocent of historical child sexual assault allegations as police decide whether to charge Australia’s most senior Catholic.
Victoria police say they will take time to consider whether charges should be laid after receiving final advice from the state’s director of public prosecutions about the allegations, which Pell has repeatedly denied.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/may/18/george-pell-on-child-sexual-assault-allegations-id-just-like-to-restate-my-innocence 

St. Paul’s School Acknowledges Decades of Sexual Misconduct

There was an English teacher, the investigators said, who groped a student and had a sexual relationship with another. A female student said a music teacher sexually touched her in his car. And there was a sacred studies teacher, a minister, whom one student accused of rape.

On Monday, St. Paul’s School, an elite prep school in New Hampshire, named 13 former faculty and staff members who investigators said were involved in substantiated reports of sexual misconduct from 1948 to 1988. Ten more employees, accused of lesser offenses, were not named.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/us/st-pauls-school-acknowledges-decades-of-sexual-misconduct.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170522&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y&_r=1 

Guam priest named in 67th abuse suit was confidant of altar boys.

Former Catholic church altar boy Walter Denton, who has accused Archbishop Anthony Apuron of raping him when he was a child, has said he told another priest — Father Jack Niland — about the rape at the time, but said Niland's response was that "priesthood is a very lonely life."
Niland, who died in 2009 at age 59, is accused of molesting Francis Charfauros, now 49. Charfauros, who said Niland was supposed to train him to be a priest, filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court of Guam, suing the church for $5 million.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/22/guam-priest-scandal-niland/337088001/ 

Catholic priest jailed for four months after sexually abusing Queensland schoolgirl

A Catholic priest who sexually abused a young girl on four separate occasions in 1974 has been jailed for four months. Anthony Colbourne pleaded guilty this morning to indecently assaulting his eight-year-old victim in the presbytery and his office on four separate occasions.
The Brisbane District Court heard Colbourne told the child her parents would not get into heaven if she told anyone what he had done.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/05/23/13/07/catholic-friar-sentenced-to-four-months-jail-for-sexually-abusing-queensland-schoolgirl 

Stolen Generations survivors call for national compensation fund

Michael Welsh has a few names he goes by, and one of them is Number 36. It is the number he was given instead of a name, at the notorious Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Training Home on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
"They said, 'Michael, you're no longer to be called Michael, you're Number 36'."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-23/stolen-generations-calling-for-national-compensation-fund/8548596 

Government's redress scheme 'will not meet ongoing needs of trauma survivors'

Abuse survivors in Ballarat say they are concerned the Federal Government's planned redress scheme will not meet the ongoing needs of trauma survivors, and has ignored the lifelong impacts of non-sexual institutional abuse.

Government has set aside $33 million to establish scheme, with a planned rollout in 2018 Abuse survivors say giving survivors cash will not help them

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-22/child-abuse-victims-sceptical-of-governments-redress-scheme/8546732?pfmredir=sm 

Former Ayrshire priest faces historic sex abuse charges with allegations of attacks at schools and leisure centres

A former priest at St Quivox Catholic Church in Prestwick has denied historic sex abuse. Father Francis Moore, 81, was appointed to the parish in 1996.
Last week his lawyer Marco Guarino tendered not guilty pleas at the High Court in Glasgow. The charges include a boy being attacked at a primary school in North Ayrshire and another at a leisure centure.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/former-ayrshire-priest-faces-historic-10480712 

Catholic school body apologises to survivors and victims of child sex abuse

The Catholic school body, Edmund Rice Education Australia, apologised on Thursday morning to survivors and victims of child sex abuse who were pupils at their schools, including St Edmund's college.
The EREA has responsibility for over 50 schools in Australia, including ones previously governed by the Christian Brothers in Canberra.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/catholic-school-body-apologises-to-survivors-and-victims-of-child-sex-abuse-20170601-gwhxau.html 

Guam archbishop’s accusers pray Vatican defrocks him for sex abuse

A spokesperson for the world’s largest network of priest abuse survivors says the Vatican could give Guam’s suspended Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron a sentence of a “life of prayer and penance.” Apuron is accused of raping and sexually abusing altar boys in the 1970s.
A Vatican tribunal on Apuron’s canonical penal trial wrapped up witness depositions, and those who testified said they were told the trial could be completed as soon as early summer.

http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2017/05/guam-archbishops-accusers-pray-vatican-defrocks-sex-abuse/?newsletter=1 

George Pell: Police considering legal advice, charges against Catholic Cardinal

Victoria Police are considering whether to charge Catholic Cardinal George Pell over sexual assault allegations dating back to the late 1970s after receiving advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Three Victorian detectives flew to Rome last year to conduct a voluntary interview with Cardinal Pell. Police have issued a statement today saying they had received advice from Victoria's DPP about a current investigation into sexual assault allegations and detectives would consider the advice before any charges were laid.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-17/police-considering-legal-advice-on-george-pell/8531960 

WA priest, 2 teachers on child sex charges

A priest and two teachers who worked at a West Australian Catholic school for indigenous children in the 1960s have been arrested on multiple child abuse charges.
A 78-year-man, who was a priest at the Wandering Mission and was arrested in Melbourne, has been charged with rape and 12 other offences.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/05/10/10/19/wa-priest-teacher-face-historical-charges

Crookston bishop and longtime Winona priest allegedly covered up sexual abuse

Crookston Bishop Michael Hoeppner, who spent 42 years as a priest in the Diocese of Winona, has been accused of covering up a decades-old case of child sexual abuse, and of blackmailing the accuser into keeping the claims to himself.

Hoeppner was named in a civil complaint filed Monday in Polk County district court. Ronald Vasek, a longtime parishioner in the Crookston diocese and the father of one of the priests there, said he was abused by a diocesan priest in 1971, when he was 16, and that Hoeppner learned of this around 2010.

http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/crookston-bishop-and-longtime-winona-priest-allegedly-covered-up-sexual/article_4d51dd46-5967-5acc-a275-d81c5535e02f.html 

Maine Priest Removed After Sex Abuse Accusation

WATERVILLE, Maine - A Roman Catholic priest in Waterville, Maine, has been removed following allegations of sexual abuse against a minor more than a decade ago in Connecticut.
The Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn, New York, said Monday the Rev. Larry Jensen was permanently removed from the ministry because of the claim. The vicar general, Michael Thomas, told the Morning Sentinel that the action followed after he became aware of the allegation last week.

http://mainepublic.org/post/maine-priest-removed-after-sex-abuse-accusation#stream/0 

Church supports alternative to Child Victims Act

As lawmakers prepare for the closing weeks of session, victims of childhood sexual abuse are pushing once again for a controversial bill that would give them a chance to seek justice for decades-old cases.
The Child Victims Act (S.809) would allow victims to file legal action against their abusers, regardless of when the crime took place.

http://legislativegazette.com/archives/5400 

Parishioners mourn loss of priest removed from church amid sexual abuse allegations

Experts who deal with sexual abuse issues say it is understandable that parishioners of St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church are in shock and disbelief that their former priest, the Rev. Larry Jensen, was removed swiftly from the church amid allegations that he sexually abused a teenage boy 15 years ago in Connecticut.
After all, a spiritual leader is someone they look up to, trust, admire, invite to family gatherings and holiday celebrations, and regard as part of their family. But it is for that precise reason that often people can not imagine any abuse could have taken place, experts say.

http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/05/09/parishioners-mourn-loss-of-priest-removed-from-church-amid-sexual-abuse-allegations/ 

Deacon candidate accuses Minnesota bishop of blackmail

A Minnesota man alleged Tuesday that his Catholic bishop blackmailed him, threatening to block his path to becoming a deacon and harm his son's priesthood career if he told anyone about being abused by a beloved priest decades earlier.
Ronald Vasek filed a lawsuit Monday against Bishop Michael Hoeppner and the Diocese of Crookston in northwestern Minnesota. His attorney, Jeff Anderson, said it's the first time a U.S. bishop has been sued individually for coercion.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/crime/article/Lawsuit-accuses-Minnesota-bishop-of-suppressing-11132207.php 

Abused by a Catholic priest, this man turned back to faith for forgiveness

When Miguel Prats revs the engine of his Harley Davidson, it might sound angry to some — but not to him. “When I’m on this bike, I literally feel surrounded by angels,” he says. “You can be frustrated, you can be anything. You get on this and go for a ride, and it just goes away.”
Today, Prats has a wide-eyed, happy-go-lucky demeanor. But he says 15 years ago, he was angry and tortured inside. In 2002, when the Boston Globe uncovered widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, the story brought back a memory that Prats says he had repressed: shortly after he turned 18, he himself had been sexually abused by a priest.

http://kalw.org/post/abused-catholic-priest-man-turned-back-faith-forgiveness#stream/0 

Waterville priest removed from duties over allegations of sexual abuse 15 years ago in Connecticut

The Rev. Larry Jensen of St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church on Appleton Street has been removed from the church amid a “substantiated” allegation of sexual abuse of a minor 15 years ago in Connecticut.
“He has been permanently relieved of priestly ministry and he can not present himself as a priest anymore,” Michael Thomas, vicar general of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn, New York, said of Jensen Monday morning in a telephone interview.

http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/05/08/waterville-maronite-priest-removed-from-priestly-duties-amid-allegations-of-sexual-abuse-15-years-ago-in-connecticut/ 

Apuron church trial breaks new ground

Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron isn’t the first high-ranking church official to be accused of sexual abuse, but his ongoing canonical trial at the Vatican is ground-breaking, according to experts.
A new trial process for these types of allegations is in place under Pope Francis, and Apuron would be the first to be investigated and tried since its implementation.

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/05/07/apuron-church-trial-breaks-new-ground/101081830/