I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday who had just read a pretty expansive article on child sexual abuse and civil laws. What struck her was the author’s (correct) assertion that most child predators are NOT pedophiles. Of course, I said. True “pedophiles,” that is, adults who are sexually attracted to prepubescent children,…Continue reading Shifting the focus
Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, CA, Western Regional Director of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPNetwork.org) Our hearts ache for Doris Concepcion, who has so bravely spoken out about the abuse her son endured. Parents of sexual abuse victims carry an awful and painful burden. Ms. Concepcion only wanted the…Continue reading Mother of second alleged victim of archbishop speaks, Victims respond
You asked. I listened. And for a short time, the result is FREE. Parents of teens and tweens have special concerns about their children’s safety. They came to me in droves asking me to create a stand-alone book—a book that only talks about the issues that older children and their parents face. The Well-Armored Teen:…Continue reading Keeping your teen safer from abuse has never been easier
The answer is simple: they thought no one would notice. When Indian priest Rev. Joseph Jeyapaul pleaded guilty in 2012 to child molestation in the Diocese of Crookston, MN, Jeyapaul’s victims and their supporters (including SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) believed—at first—that they had won a huge victory. Not only had Jeyapaul fled the…Continue reading Why did the Vatican reinstate a convicted priest?
Joel Wright, the Steubenville seminarian caught trying to buy children in order to sexually molest them, pleaded guilty to federal charges of trying to entice a minor. He faces up to 10 years in prison. Authorities released some of the emails Wright exchanged with undercover agents. You can read some of them here. But a…Continue reading “Baby-buying” Ohio seminarian pleads guilty
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.
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…Continue reading Well-Armored Child Review in Gallup Independent
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
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…Continue reading “Baby-buying” seminarian rejected by 45 dioceses, orders
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…Continue reading The Well-Armored Child – FLASH SALE!
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,…Continue reading “He created the group to find children to abuse”
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…Continue reading Cupich: Priest abused BEFORE ordination, so it’s okay
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:…Continue reading More moves to reform CA sex crime laws
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.)…Continue reading The Carrot, the Stick, and what two SOL reform initiatives are missing …
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:…Continue reading A perv priest and a public nuisance case: NY in the spotlight
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…Continue reading Prestigious MN prep school/Uni in violation of Title IX for housing sex offending monks
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…Continue reading Vatican thwarts review boards, documents show
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…Continue reading Priest who destroyed evidence now taking reports of abuse in San Diego
** 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…Continue reading Vatican: We can indict foreign journalists, but not our own priests
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.…Continue reading It’s time for the Bishop Quiz!
