**********************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…Continue reading ACTION ALERT: Committee votes on SB131 tomorrow!

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…Continue reading Santa Barbara date added to D’Antonio book tour

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…Continue reading Polanski needs to shut his trap

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.…Continue reading Victims of convicted predator priest reach $20 million settlement with Jesuits

From yesterday’s Honolulu Star Advertiser: Catholic Church, priest named in lawsuit alleging molestation A New Jersey man filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that he was sexually molested when he attended St. Anthony’s parish and school in Kailua from 1978 to 1981 when he was about 10 to 13 years old. The suit filed by the man…Continue reading Second retired Honolulu priest sued for abuse: Bishop does … NOTHING

The Los Angeles Times just published this great story about Cardinal Mahony. Despite promises from Archbishop Gomez that Mahony would be removed from public ministry, the disgraced Cardinal is performing confirmations across Los Angeles. Fortunately, the commenters and Catholics are just as disgusted as I was last week when I first reported the problem.

Within the past few weeks, the Archdiocese of Newark has settled sex abuse and cover-up lawsuits with five men who charge that they were abused by convicted Newark priest Fr. Carmine Sita. Sita, who was convicted of child sex abuse in New Jersey in 1983, was later allowed to change his name to Fr. Jerry…Continue reading Newark’s name-changing predator priest makes headlines again …

Disgraced Cardinal Roger Mahony will be officiating confirmations this evening at a local Los Angeles parish, despite promises from the new Los Angeles archbishop that Mahony and another bishop involved in sex abuse and cover-up would be relieved from public duties. Documents released in January showed that Mahony, who retired in 2011, personally managed the…Continue reading BREAKING: Cardinal Mahony presiding over confirmations at LA parish

A teacher at Anaheim’s Servite Catholic High School is accused of posing as a girl to get teenage boys to send lewd pictures of themselves. He was arrested in February and faces numerous charges. In 2011, a teacher at JSerra High School in south Orange County was arrested on charges of lewd conduct with a 14-year-old…Continue reading Social media redeems itself in OC … twice

Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, SNAP Western Regional Director Read the story here. How many more millions in payouts and hundreds of victims will it take before the Vatican realizes that Cardinal Mahony must be punished? These four brave men fought long and hard to get justice for the abuse they suffered at…Continue reading Victims settle with LA Archdiocese, SNAP responds

Current priest, Diocese of Honolulu accused of child sex crimes  Two ex-Damien students expose him in abuse lawsuit Bishop Silva has known about allegations since last August Despite ‘zero tolerance,” bishop refuses to remove predator Bishop Silva must oust priest, warn parishioners, group says Predator is “ticking time bomb” for abuse, they claim What: Holding signs…Continue reading Current priest, Diocese of Honolulu accused of child sex crimes

On his blog yesterday, Cardinal Roger Mahony discussed how he has been “called to humiliation.” Given all of the storms that have surrounded me and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles recently, God’s grace finally helped me to understand:  I am not being called to serve Jesus in humility.  Rather, I am being called to something…Continue reading Arrogance, Mahony style

An AP photo went out today saying that I am a victim of Fr. Michael Baker. I am not. Other stories have gone out this week saying that I am the victim of abuse by a priest. Both statements are incorrect. I have alerted all media outlets to the mistake. I am a victim of…Continue reading Corrections …

It looks as if the LA Archdiocese (in their rush to dump more than 12,000 pages of files after 5 years of legal haggling) has published the contact info for many of their accused clerics. Did they mean to do this? Redactions have been an issue for the Archdiocese, who is now getting pounded for…Continue reading Ever wanted to call a perpetrator priest?

The complete library of documents can be viewed here. For years, all we heard from Cardinal Roger Mahony was that he “may have made mistakes” and that “new policies would ensure child safety.” Now we know that Cardinal Mahony’s role in the cover-up of child sex abuse in the Los Angeles Archdiocese was hands-on, insidious…Continue reading Mahony’s chickens come home to roost – with links to complete document files

In a ruling yesterday, the California Court of Appeal ruled that if a victim of child sexual abuse received counseling from the Catholic Church during the time that victim had an active statute (2003, or earlier, depending on the case), that victim may have new civil rights to seek justice, expose their perpetrator, and get…Continue reading New legal rights for some of California’s victims

I am sitting in Chicago at the SNAP national conference. And I can’t get the notion of spirituality out of my mind. One of the more common questions I get from reporters is: How are you doing spiritually? For years, I didn’t know how to answer that. Friends like William Lobdell wrote books about it,…Continue reading The Ruby Slippers Worked All Along: Spirituality in Spite of Religion