In public schools, there is a prevalent problem called “Passing the Trash.” It’s when a teacher accused of sexual abuse is quietly moved from school to school within a district once allegations come to light. Evidence is buried by the district, witnesses and victims graduate or move, and the school district relies on the short civil statutes of…Continue reading A Primer on “Passing the Trash”
Tell me what is wrong with these two excerpts from this week’s news: From Newsday: Francis, 78, a Jesuit from Argentina, is moving in a similar direction, McCartin said. He has overhauled the Vatican bureaucracy, encouraged open debate within the church, instituted a mechanism for removing bishops who covered up the priest sex-abuse scandal and adopted…Continue reading When the media gets it wrong about Francis
From today’s OC Register: Sexual abuse victims seek more time to sue BY SCOTT M. REID / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Charmaine Carnes still remembers the sick feeling she had the first time her gymnastics coach sexually molested her. “I was 8 or 9 years old the first time I felt dread. My coach, Doug Boger, was…Continue reading California Child Victims’ Act Passes Judiciary
On the heels of Judge Emilie Elias’ ruling that high-ranking Catholic officials’ names may NOT be redacted from clergy sex abuse and cover-up files, an upcoming announcement this Thursday may also be a huge win for victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. MEA MAXIMA CULPA: SILENCE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD, Alex Gibney’s…Continue reading Will a powerful documentary on clergy sex abuse get the Oscar nod?
Fr. J. Michael Henry has a hall in his honor. And the number of his alleged victims just keeps growing. Fr. Joseph Michael Henry (also known as J. Michael Henry and Mike Henry), was a longtime priest in the Diocese of Honolulu. Most of his time was spent at St. Anthony’s Parish in Kailua on Oahu’s…Continue reading How many accusations does it take to rename the parish hall?
You can read yesterday’s complete story in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser here. And as more and more victims learn of their rights, I only see the numbers growing.
What we know is bad. What we don’t know is scary. Last week, family members of Matthew Carrigan gathered outside of Corpus Christi Parish in Aliso Viejo to warn parishioners about Fr. Tim Ramaekers. According to a lawsuit filed by Carrigan, Ramaekers allegedly molested Carrigan when he was a young student at St. Justin Martyr…Continue reading The Troubling Case of Timothy Ramaekers
Victims? We don’t care about no stinkin’ victims! San Diego, California: Fr. Jose Alexis Davila was arrested in January 2012 and pled guilty in April for battery and “unlawful touching of an intimate part of a victim’s body.” He is serving three years’ probation. Parishioners tried to accost the victim’s mother at prayer group in an…Continue reading Cue Angry Mob
If you are in the Sacramento area, I hope you can join us. I think that Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto has said, “Report abuse to the Diocese,” so many times, that he thinks it’s the right thing to do. (P.S. Even the Pope says to call the cops first) For immediate release: June 6,…Continue reading Bishop Jaime Soto has some explaining to do about Uriel Ojeda
Documents recently exposed in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee showed that NY Cardinal Timothy Dolan paid predator priests $20,000 to quietly leave the priesthood. Yeah, really. The response from Dolan? Cue the crickets. But that doesn’t mean that Dolan’s apologists have also clammed up. In fact, they have been very loud in defending Dolan, saying,…Continue reading Dissecting Dolan’s Apologists
Sometimes, the most profound statements at a press conference come from the reporters, not us. Today, my friend and colleague Ken Smolka and I were in front of Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary High School in Montebello, California. We were there because the Irish Chrisitian Brothers, the religious order that ran Cantwell High School,…Continue reading Clarity at Cantwell High School
From the Office of Keep Your Trap Shut, You Pesky Victims’ Activists: Pope Benedict yesterday espoused the virtues of silence: By remaining silent, we allow the other person to speak, to express him or herself, and we avoid being tied simply to our own words and ideas without them being adequately tested. Ah, the irony.…Continue reading Well, at least Pope Benedict is sticking to the company line
Penn State does not have a monopoly on sex abuse cover-up. Adrian College officials have known that Thomas Hodgman was an admitted predator since 2003, yet, they support him and have allowed him to keep his job. They have not warned parents, students or the general community of the risk. As a result of my 2005…Continue reading The Thomas Hodgman Abuse and Cover-up Documents
In September, victims of sexual abuse “upped the ante,” making a serious move to expose and prevent clergy sex crimes and cover-ups at the global level. How? SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (of which I am a member), filed a more than 80-page complaint (with 20,000 pages of documentation) with the International…Continue reading Four Myths About SNAP’s ICC Complaint
California is inundated with civil and criminal clergy sex abuse cases. I realized it was time for an update: Inland Empire Last week in Ontario, Fr. Alex Castillo was sentenced to a year in jail for lewd acts on a child. Although he was only prosecuted for his crimes against one victim, the sentencing report outlined…Continue reading The California Clergy Sex Abuse Powder Keg, Part 2
Last week in Kansas City-St. Joseph, the diocese lay review board was called to meet by the bishop to “discuss” recent events involving the sexual abuse of children. Too bad the board got wind of things a few years too late. For those of you who don’t know, Fr. Sean Ratigan was arrested in late…Continue reading The Puppet Show: The Utter Failure of Diocese Lay Review Boards
And really, that’s why I’m doing this. With anger, we get nowhere. But if we have smiles on our faces, we can change the world (or at least stop crying for a while).
A year of my life was dominated by a perfectionist’s life-and-death struggle with poop, poop prediction, and eventual poop containment. The result? Insanity.
