Many of you may have seen posts about All Survivors Day yesterday. Now what? It’s time for change. It’s time for action. The past two years have been a whirlwind of news about child sexual assault and cover-ups. The scandal is being exposed everywhere—churches, sports, camps, organizations, public and private schools. If you think […]
Joelle yacks about a lot of stuff in a lot more places than just this blog. So, for those of you who can’t get enough … The San Jose Mercury News interviewed me about J. Patrick Foley, one of the priests in “the San Diego Eight” list. The Pacific Daily News asked me about more […]
Today the Diocese of San Diego released a list of eight credibly accused priests who have worked in the diocese. The names are: Fr. Jose Chavarin Fr. Raymond Etienne SVD Fr. James P. Foley Fr. Michael French Fr. Richard Houck Fr. George Lally O.A.R. Fr. Mark Medaer Fr. Paolino Montagna This list is dangerously incomplete. […]
One of my dearest friends is a married deacon in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. In his position, he attended to Cardinal Wuerl. But after the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, he decided: No more. After James wrote and delivered the letter attached below, we talked. He told me that telling Cardinal Wuerl was one thing. […]
While New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other parts of the country explode with scandal and investigation into clergy sex abuse and cover-up, a little pot of disrepute is simmering in one Southern California Diocese. Welcome to San Diego The Diocese of San Diego is well known to readers of this blog. It’s the home […]
I wrote briefly about the Vatican Circular Firing Squad in a previous post. It was an over-simplification, but hit the point. To truly understand what is happening right now with the Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal—and how the scandal has been able to flourish for so long—you need to understand the people, the dynamics, and […]
Pope Francis says: “Those in the Vatican who knew about and covered up abuse are ‘caca.’” The response within those formerly in the Vatican: “Et tu? You knew.” Commence the Vatican circular firing squad. Last one standing … wins?
It’s time for action. You’ve read the PA Grand Jury Report and its sickening revelations. You’ve watched child sex abuse scandals unfold in US Gymnastics, Penn State, The Boy Scouts of America, Hollywood, our public schools, and across beloved institutions we have trusted with the care of our children. If you are a survivor, healing […]
… and things are never going to be the same. On Saturday, I am leaving for Geneva, Switzerland, where former California State Senator Joe Dunn and I will be presenting at the United Nations’ ITU AI for Good Global Summit. There, we will discuss how cognitive computing will forever change how we work to expose child […]
It’s the Sacrament of Confirmation season in the Catholic Church, and that means one thing: trouble. Why? For the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, it’s time to dust off disgraced, abuse-enabling bishops and force them on innocent Catholic teens, adults and parishes. I’ve already received numerous complaints from two Los Angeles parishes: St. Timothy’s in West Los […]
UPDATED 5/24 PA’s Catholic Dioceses receive copies of 884-page report. Public release slated for June. PA’s Catholic Dioceses have said they “won’t block the release” of the Grand Jury report. Bishop says that the report contains information that is “difficult to hear.” UPDATED 5/9 Bishop Trautman Smells Blood in the Water – His Own […]
Yesterday, I was a featured speaker at UCI Law School’s series on the #MeToo movement. Our discussion: Victims of child sexual abuse and sexual assault have been empowered to speak out about what happened to us. But what do we do to change the systemic problem in our institutions that made this abuse and cover-up […]
“The realization that I had used, willingly and unwillingly, my charm for the wrong reasons.” This was a quote from Joseph L. Bishop. He has admitted to “acting inappropriately” (read: sexually assaulting) numerous women during his career in the LDS church. It was the use of the word CHARM that got me. He still, at […]
My son is eleven years old. He likes to play basketball. Oree Freeman was eleven when she was sex trafficked on the streets of LA and Orange County. Men bought her for sex across the street from Disneyland. Bought her through websites like Backpage or via text. They knew full well that she hadn’t hit […]
The Georgia State Legislature is trying to pass a bill to help adult victims of child sexual abuse. The legislation, dubbed the “Hidden Predator Act,” extends the statute of limitations for victims from age 23 to 38, and creates other avenues for adults to sue long after that age. This is not groundbreaking legislation. It […]
From the Associated Press: [The] Catholic Church is concerned that the [Michigan] statute of limitations bill could “open up other things that have been closed.” Other things? Things like abuse and cover-up? And these things have been closed? I don’t think so. Certainly not for the victims, who are still suffering. Not for the predators, […]
Kill the celibacy requirement, kill the scandal? Hardly. The Catholic clergy sex abuse cover-up scandal is not totally unique. It’s an institutional cover-up, just like the institutional cover-up with Larry Nassar in US Gymnastics, the recent scandal in USA Swimming, the Penn State/Jerry Sandusky scandal, the scandal in LAUSD, and smaller scandals in private, religious, and public institutions […]
Last week, The Orange County Register published an excellent two-part series on the sex abuse cover-up scandal inside of USA Swimming. Some of horrific facts reporter Scott M. Reid unearthed: • Top USA Swimming executives, board members, top officials and coaches acknowledge in the documents that they were aware of sexually predatory coaches for years, […]
It’s time to talk. Those of you who have followed my blog may have noticed that it was dark for much of the fall. There were some good reasons for this. I am on the faculty at the UCI School of Law this semester, co-teaching a course on how to use the legislative process to […]
When Pope Francis appoints Cardinal Roger Mahony as a Papal Envoy in a state where almost every diocese is under investigation for the cover up of child sexual abuse, you know the Vatican has gone full tone-deaf on sex abuse. And now is not the time to go full tone-deaf. The PR Shine Fades Since his […]
