Former head of child abuse inquiry sues Holyrood ministers

The former head of the Scottish inquiry into historic child abuse, who resigned in July, is to sue ministers.
Susan O’Brien, QC, resigned amid controversy, with John Swinney, the education secretary, later telling MSPs that he had been considering her removal from the post over claims of inappropriate comments about survivors.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/former-head-of-child-sex-abuse-inquiry-to-sue-scots-government-60qt73kz0 

x Liverpool FC player Paul Stewart - "I was abused as a child by football coach"

Ex-Liverpool FC footballer Paul Stewart has broken a 40-year silence to share the trauma of his horrific child sex abuse ordeal,
Stewart bottled it up from everyone, including his family, but took the tough decision to speak out about how he was targeted by a vile football coach between the ages of 11 and 15 – in the hope more victims will come forward.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/ex-liverpool-fc-player-paul-12216103 

2 new sex abuse lawsuits filed against former priests

Two new child sex abuse lawsuits, filed Wednesday afternoon, allege that deceased Catholic priest Antonio C. Cruz and former priest Louis Brouillard separately molested two former altar boys in the 1960s and 1970s.
Brouillard, the Archdiocese of Agana and as many as 50 other defendants are named in the latest batch of lawsuits, filed by attorney David Lujan, of the law firm Lujan & Wolff. Cruz, who died in 1986 at the age of 62, is not named as a defendant.

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2016/11/23/2-new-sex-abuse-lawsuits-filed-against-former-priests/94325148/ 

Threat of hell is real for not being faithful to God, pope says

At his daily morning Mass, Pope Francis reflects on death, hell and the final judgment. “If each of us is faithful to the Lord, when death comes, we will say ‘Come, Sister Death,’ like St. Francis. It won’t frighten us,” he said.  Death and final judgment before the Lord are not frightening if you live being faithful to God, Pope Francis said.

“It will do us good to think about this: ‘Well, what will that day be like when I am before Jesus? When he will ask me about the talents he gave me, what I did with them,’” the pope said Nov. 22 during morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he lives.

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2016/11/22/threat-hell-real-not-faithful-god-pope-says/ 

Church with rapist leading worship postpones merger with second church facing sex abuse claims

Two Tennessee churches — both with current or former leaders connected to sexual abuse — have decided to restructure a merger in light of recent allegations.
Earlier this week, the Memphis Police Department confirmed that it was investigating a city of Memphis library employee, Christopher Carwile, after he was accused of sexually assaulting at least three children while working as a youth minister at the Church at Schilling Farms (formerly known as Immanuel Baptist Church) 18 years ago.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/church-with-rapist-leading-worship-postpones-merger-with-second-church-facing-sex-abuse-claims/

Bishop urged to 'care' for alleged abusers

Newcastle's Anglican bishop was told at his consecration that he should meet with a couple accused of having three-way sex with a teenage boy and "care for them", a royal commission has heard.
Bishop Greg Thompson, who has been public about his own alleged abuse at the hands of clergy, says he quickly identified a strong narrative in the diocese that priests, including defrocked Dean of Newcastle Graeme Lawrence, had been unfairly disciplined over child sexual abuse allegations.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/11/24/03/32/newcastle-child-sex-abuse-study-to-finish 

Talking Point: Child sex abuse scheme fails on too many levels

LIKE many Tasmanians, I was shocked and appalled by evidence given at the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse.

All abuse of children is horrendous, but it is particularly abhorrent for abuse to be committed by people entrusted with the care of those children. I welcome the Turnbull Government’s decision to fund trauma counselling and other support, and to appoint an advisory committee of survivors and their supporters.

http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/talking-point-child-sex-abuse-scheme-fails-on-too-many-levels/news-story/8060348fc062f985fffb304261a15d8d 

Marist Brother abused boys in dorm: court

A former Marist Brother accused of sexually abusing young boys at Catholic boarding schools was a strict disciplinarian who used violence on his alleged victims, a court has heard.

Brett O'Connor was a dormitory master at a school on Sydney's North Shore when he allegedly began indecently assaulting a 12-year-old boy under his charge and left his alleged victim frozen in fear in his bed, Sydney's District Court heard on Wednesday.

http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/marist-brother-abused-boys-in-dorm-court/news-story/ccbd6c856ad81dd65989d38a753e83ac 

Brent Hawkes’ lawyers concede teens drank alcohol at pastor’s home in ’70s

KENTVILLE, N.S.—Brent Hawkes’ lawyers conceded Tuesday that teenagers drank alcohol at the Toronto pastor’s Nova Scotia trailer during the mid 1970s, much to the prosecutor’s surprise.

Crown lawyer Bob Morrison had intended to call rebuttal witnesses to testify that other students, and not only the three witnesses who testified last week at Hawkes’ gross indecency trial, drank alcohol at his Greenwood, N.S., home.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/11/22/brent-hawkes-lawyers-concede-teens-drank-alcohol-at-pastors-home-in-70s.html 

Federal government ‘dragging its heels’ on child abuse redress scheme

Victoria says the government is keeping survivors in the dark as they await further detail on how scheme would work.  Anti-child abuse campaigners have urged federal and state governments to avoid playing political games with the national redress scheme, after Victoria said the federal government for “dragging its heels” and keeping survivors in the dark.
The council of Australian governments meeting early next month could be critical to the future of the national redress scheme, which was a core recommendation of the royal commission in September last year.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/nov/24/federal-government-dragging-its-heels-on-child-abuse-redress-scheme

Child abuse royal commission: defrocked Anglican dean denies leading group of paedophile priests

A defrocked Anglican dean has vehemently denied at a royal commission hearing that he was the leader of a group of child abusers, but admitted he failed to act when he "suspected" a priest in his charge was having sex with a teenage boy.

The ex-dean of Newcastle, Graeme Lawrence, has returned to the witness box in Sydney after beginning his evidence last week when he was questioned intensely about the events leading up to his defrocking in 2012.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-23/defrocked-dean-denies-leading-group-of-paedophile-priests/8049308 

Victim speaks to WREG after filing sexual abuse report against former church worker

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Three men are speaking out after they say a church worker sexually abused them in Collierville when they were teens. One of them has filed a report and the two others said they're getting one filed now.
Kenny Stubblefield was only 16 years old when it happened, but he still remembers every detail of the night he said he was sexually assaulted by someone at his church.

http://wreg.com/2016/11/21/former-church-worker-accused-of-abusing-children/ 

Abuse inquiry 'is gagging the lawyers who resigned': New secrecy row after accusation staff were stopped from talking to MPs about why they quit

The beleaguered child abuse inquiry faced a new secrecy row last night as it was accused of gagging lawyers from talking to MPs about why they have quit.

The Home Affairs Select Committee has requested written evidence from seven lawyers who have resigned from Britain’s biggest public inquiry.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3959232/Abuse-inquiry-gagging-lawyers-resigned-New-secrecy-row-accusation-staff-stopped-talking-MPs-quit.html 

New national Church response to importance of safeguarding

A new independent company has been established by the Catholic Church in Australia to develop, audit and report on compliance with professional standards to protect children and vulnerable people.
Catholic Professional Standards (CPS) Limited represents a new national Church response to the importance of safeguarding vulnerable people. It will be responsible for setting the highest standards to ensure the safety of individuals involved with the Church at all levels and engaging with Catholic service providers.

http://catholicoutlook.org/new-national-church-response-to-importance-of-safeguarding/ 

Vic institutions accountable for abuse

Lawyers say other states should follow Victoria's lead in forcing institutions to prove they took steps to protect children under their care from being abused.
Organisations in Victoria will have to prove they took reasonable steps to protect children under their care from abuse in a move that will make it easier for victims to sue institutions for damages. Victoria is the first state to introduce laws creating a duty of care for organisations so they can be held accountable for the abuse of children.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/11/22/vic-institutions-accountable-abuse