My friend Manny Vega and I had the opportunity to make a video for Buzzfeed about our experience as survivors of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Thanks to producer Ricky Sans for the amazing end product.
Category: Child safety
Well-Armored Child Review in Gallup Independent
The Gallup Independent does not have an online edition. The entire article is posted here. Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, NM, Feb. 1, 2016 Advocate publishes parent’s guide on sex abuse By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola Independent correspondent GALLUP — As an advocate for victims of sexual abuse, Joelle Casteix has used […]
Discussing the scandal on The Bigger Picture
Click here to hear my interview with Timothy Spangler on KRLA 870 AM. We talk about abuse, cover-up, and the Vatican’s role in the continuing scandal. I start at 29:00
“Baby-buying” seminarian rejected by 45 dioceses, orders
What made the Stubenville diocese take a potential seminarian that 45 other dioceses and religious orders had previously rejected? Joel Wright is the 23-year-old Catholic seminarian who has been charged with attempting to adopt or purchase (for cash) a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old. He didn’t want to be a father. He wanted them for […]
The Well-Armored Child – FLASH SALE!
THE WELL-ARMORED CHILD – the book that is being hailed as the “definitive child safety manual” – is on sale for only 99 cents (YAY!) for the Kindle and Nook. You can get the Kindle version here. The Nook version is available by clicking here. In the book, you can learn age-specific tools and strategies to […]
“He created the group to find children to abuse”
Children’s Theater Company of Minneapolis has a problem that is never going to go away. Yesterday, a victim of sexual abuse filed the fourth abuse and cover-up lawsuit against the theater company. The latest civil lawsuit, brought by a woman who is now an academic advisor at the University of Minnesota, […]
Cupich: Priest abused BEFORE ordination, so it’s okay
Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich has a lot of explaining to do about why he has allowed a priest—who has admitted to sexually abusing a child—to remain a priest and work with kids. In fact, in light of a Chicago Tribune article today, I think Cupich should step down for his blatant disregard for […]
More moves to reform CA sex crime laws
On the heels of proposed federal legislation and a CA ballot initiative to eliminate statutes of limitations for sex crimes, California State Sen. Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) is “seeking to introduce a bill in January that would eliminate the statute of limitations for rape and other related crimes.” According to the Vallejo Times-Herald: […]
The Carrot, the Stick, and what two SOL reform initiatives are missing …
The Carrot: Money Last week, the US Senate proposed a bill that would give states money if they enacted legislation that extended or eliminated unexpired statutes of limitation for child sexual abuse. (In other words, if your time is up, it’s up. But if not, you could have your statute extended or eliminated.) […]
A perv priest and a public nuisance case: NY in the spotlight
Two unrelated cases in New York State are going to test Catholics’ faith in their leadership. The rest of us are going to get an unprecedented look at how NY church leaders handle cases of sexual abuse. Case number one is dominating the headlines – I mean, how often do you see this: […]
Prestigious MN prep school/Uni in violation of Title IX for housing sex offending monks
Newly released documents show how St. John’s Prep in Collegeville, MN is in direct violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and created a hostile environment where students can reasonably believe they are risk of sexual assault. At least 10 sex-offending monks—who have only been publicly exposed due to child sex abuse civil lawsuits […]
Vatican thwarts review boards, documents show
Everything the bishops have been led you to believe about the independent power of lay review boards is deliberately misleading. Citing a sex-offening priest’s “right to privacy,” a newly released Vatican document shows that priests are able to shield potentially damning evidence from review boards who are charged with determining whether abuse allegations against a priest […]
Priest who destroyed evidence now taking reports of abuse in San Diego
A controversial priest accused of covering up abuse in the Diocese of San Diego is in charge of taking victims calls and emails. Msgr. Steven Callahan shot to the spotlight in 2014 after he became the temporary diocesan administrator after the death of Cirilo Flores. Victims, supporters and Catholics were rightfully upset: In 2007, Callahan […]
Vatican: We can indict foreign journalists, but not our own priests
** Update: only two journalists were indicted. Note corrections below Events last week showed that the Vatican has the power to indict foreign journalists … but earlier this year needed to draft new rules in order to indict its own employees for sex abuse. Let’s take a look. Last week, the Vatican issued indictments against five […]
It’s time for the Bishop Quiz!
Did you just see Spotlight and get all fired up? Or maybe you have noticed that your bishop’s actions don’t reflect transparency, humility … or anything remotely resembling Christianity. But you can’t quite determine the root of the problem. And no matter how hard to try to believe that “things are different now,” your bishop’s words just ring false. […]
Former Orange priest subject of US Bishops’ “Warning!” OC Bishop stays silent.
A priest who worked for six years at Orange’s St. Joseph Hospital has been accused of “improper conduct” in numerous assignments. The conduct was so bad, in fact, that he was “dismissed” from his home diocese and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a warning to dioceses nationwide. What did Orange Bishop Kevin […]
The Well-Armored Child is featured on San Diego Living
Click here to see my interview on San Diego Living (Channel 6 – the CW). I talk about protecting your child from abuse, the importance of statute of limitation reform, and … I say vagina (gasp!) on live television.
Parenting.com: Ten Myths about Sexual Abuse
This is no myth: Being a parent is hard. Click here for my October 10 article on Parenting.com.
The math: Pope Francis’ meeting with survivors
Since yesterday’s announcement, I have been hearing a lot of this: But Pope Francis met with survivors. He’s promised to hold bishops accountable. That’s good, right? Um … not really. But first, let’s boil down the figures concerning the actual meeting. Here is some math on Pope Francis’ meeting yesterday with abuse survivors. The meeting […]
On eve of Pope visit: a Huntington Beach priest and a discussion of predatory grooming
Note: This post and the author are not implying that Huntington Beach priest Rev. Daniel Barica, ofm, is a child predator. But the post does serve to show possible RED FLAG behavior that should alert parishioners, parents, and Orange County Bishop Kevin Vann. One of the most common requests I get from parents, groups, and the […]