This just arrived in my inbox   Media Advisory February 18, 2014   Sexual Abuse Survivors Settle with Los Angeles Archdiocese Archdiocese used therapy scam to defraud victims of civil rights Cardinal, Bishop thwarted police, helped criminal priest escape US   What:  At a news conference Wednesday sexual abuse survivors and their attorneys, Anthony DeMarco and […]

Speakers will include John L. Allen, Jr., Associate Editor for Catholic news at The Boston Globe and founder of the Vatican beat for National Catholic Reporter, and Fr. Thomas Reese, NCR’s Senior Analyst and author of The Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church. I did an MSNBC interview with Reese last month and he […]

According to the Riverside Press Enterprise, two victims of convicted priest Alejandro “Alex” Castillo settled their sex abuse and cover-up lawsuits against the Diocese of San Bernardino for $3.8 million. In a statement, the diocese called Castillo’s acts “sinful and unlawful.” They also added this: The diocese acknowledges and deeply regrets the sinful and unlawful […]

There have been a number of things about the recent UN committee report on (and the global response to) the Vatican’s role in clergy sex abuse that have given me pause. The first issue has been the one to which Vatican and global Catholic officials have clung : The report’s inclusion of language about the church’s […]

Former Hilo farmer Jay Ram, who is accused of sexual abuse by five of his sons, has been found living outside of Tampa, where he was finally served with the civil lawsuits.   From the Hawaii News-Tribune: One of Ram’s neighbors in Odessa, who spoke to the Tribune-Herald on the condition of anonymity, said Ram […]

The Diocese of Stockton announced today that they are going to seek bankruptcy protection in federal court on Wednesday. They had announced their “intentions” to file last year. The first goal of the filing, according to Bishop Stephen Blaire in the Lodi News is to “provid[e] a process to compensate victims of sexual abuse, particularly those […]

*Like part one, part two is not available online* Scroll down to the italicized section (emphasis is mine). It seems that all of the “Unknown real estate values” that Bishop Wall wrung his hands over were actually known and itemized in a 2012 audit. Judges have a tendency to come down hard on that kind of […]

Jerry Brown could have been a hero. He could have helped expose a cache of child pornography in the basement of the local archdiocese. He could have forced bishops to release the names of adults credibly accused of abuse in the past ten years, but whose identities were kept secret from parishioners, communities, and the […]

In July, I blogged about how institutions should not be in the child sex abuse investigation business. Little did I know that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis would prove me right so quickly. Here’s a recap from what we learned yesterday from Minnesota Public Radio (emphasis mine): Archbishop John Nienstedt was in the middle […]

Hawaii’s state deputy attorney general determined that a $1.5 million grant intended for Damien Memorial School is unconstitutional. According to the Honolulu Civil Beat: Deputy Attorney General Randall Nishiyama’s memo, dated Sept. 3, 2013, notifies Mercado Kim that the grant for Kalihi’s Damien Memorial School violates a provision in Hawaii’s constitution prohibiting the state from contributing public money to […]

SB 131 – the Child Victims’ Act – has become the “little bill that could.” Despite great odds and millions of dollars spent on lobbying to kill the bill (by Roman Catholic and USA Swimming officials), SB 131 passed the senate floor vote 21-8 and is heading to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk. There is talk […]

The Diocese of Gallup, which owns parishes and employs priests in both New Mexico and Arizona, has said that it will declare bankruptcy to avoid embarrassing civil child sex abuse and cover-up trials. Published in The Gallup Independent, Gallup, NM, Sept. 3, 2013 (the paper does not publish stories online): Diocese of Gallup to file bankruptcy […]

What do you do when your umbrella organization files for bankruptcy (to avoid costly sex abuse civil trials); ten of your former teachers are exposed as perpetrators; and at least 15 former students come forward to say they were sexually abused by your teachers and brothers? Swindle the state of Hawaii out of $1.5 million, […]

The news broke this morning, but I was swamped buying school supplies, picking up kids, and trying to find new size 1 soccer cleats. SB 131, The California Child Victims Act, has passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and now is now heading to the Assembly floor. The vote is a huge win for […]

**********************ACTION ALERT****************************** Want to take action TODAY to help victims and protect kids? Here’s how: Tomorrow, Wednesday (8/21), the California State Assembly Appropriations Committee will consider a measure that makes it easier for child sex abuse victims to expose predators in court, keep kids safe right now and hold wrongdoers accountable. Please take just a few minutes […]

I had the pleasure of being a guest on KABC radio this morning, discussing secret personnel documents finally released by religious orders in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Click here for the audio.

  Here is the complete list of dates:   SAN DIEGO, CA Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 7 pm Alliant University, Green Hall, Co-sponsored by IVAT, the Institute on Violence Abuse and Trauma at Alliant University, 10455 Pomerado Road, San Diego   FULLERTON, CA Thursday, June 27, 2013 at 7 pm Fullerton Public Library – Presented as a […]

Roman Polanski “blame[s] birth control pills for ‘masculinising’ women.” From AFP: Asked by a reporter how his views of women had changed over time, the filmmaker said he thought feminism and advances in contraception had blurred the distinctions between the sexes. “I think that now offering flowers to a lady becomes indecent, that’s how I […]

For immediate release: Monday, May 20 Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, president of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (312-399-4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com)  Six men who were sexually violated as kids by a widely-known Jesuit priest, Fr. Donald McGuire, have reached a settlement totaling nearly $20 million. We applaud their courage and strength. […]