Joel Wright (being led away in handcuffs above) was a legally blind seminarian at Columbus, Ohio’s Pontifical College Josephinum in 2016 when he was arrested for attempting to buy a one- and four-year-old child off of Craigslist to rape and molest. A native of Steubenville, Wright had wanted to be a priest for many years. In […]
In 2013, Minnesota passed a landmark bill that allowed victims of child sexual abuse to use the civil courts to expose their abuser, no matter when the abuse took place. We are hoping to get one passed in New York right now. Ensuing lawsuits showed that the Archdiocese under Archbishop John Nienstedt (pictured above) and […]
Jose Alexis Davila accepted a plea deal for battery against a 20-year-old female parishioner in 2012. The plea agreement came when the victim was too scared to testify. Why? Well, a parishioner ‘lynch mob’ tried to stop her mother from attending prayer group and accosted her brother. They also called her a liar and a slut. Nice. Then-San […]
<– Back to Part Two: Is There a Crook in the Diocese of Crookston? In 2014, Fr. Bruce Wellems was banned from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Church officials there found out that he had sexually abused a seven-year-old boy when Wellems was fifteen. Los Angeles booted him back to Chicago where he had ministered for years. […]
<– Back to Part One: Altoona-Johnstown Last month, Crookston, MN Catholic deacon and child sex abuse survivor Ron Vasek (pictured above) came forward and filed a lawsuit saying that “Crookston Bishop Michael Hoeppner threatened to undermine his religious work and that of his son’s [a priest in that diocese] if he didn’t retract a child […]
Read the Introduction to this series here. In 2016, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General announced that “a statewide investigating grand jury has determined that hundreds of children were sexually abused over a period of at least 40 years by priests or religious leaders assigned to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.” The two-year investigation […]
The 2002 Dallas Bishops’ Conference was a barn-burner. On the heels of the Spotlight series and scandals in dioceses across the nation, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) got together at their annual June meeting to put together “massive reforms.” Those reforms became the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and […]
That’s today’s lesson for Claretian priest Fr. Tony Diaz. He’s the organizer of San Gabriel Mission’s May 25 Build the Dreams Scholarship Fundraising Dinner. His fatal error was deciding to honor admitted child molester Bruce Wellems along with actor Edward James Olmos. Wellems is a priest of questionable standing who has been banned from the […]
Not fake news. They’re really doing it. And Edward James Olmos is gonna be there, too. Bruce Wellems is a problematic guy, to say the least. He’s been banned from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He’s been removed from ministry in the Archdiocese of Chicago and by the Claretian order. Last year, he was sued […]
It’s true: New York’s Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan believes in Window Legislation and Statute of Limitation Reform for victims of child sexual abuse. He knows they both work to help victims heal. He’s showing us right now. Just look at his actions, not his words. In fact, since last fall, he’s shown that archaic Statutes of […]
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 […]
The problem with child sex abuse is that for the victims and their families, the pain never goes away. This month, the family of one of the alleged victims of one of Orange County’s most notorious predator priests filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Diocese of Orange and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The […]
The recent lawsuit against Fr. Richard T. Coughlin, The All-American Boys Chorus, and the Diocese of Orange has sparked a flurry of conversation and controversy online. Why? A whole generation of kids was destroyed by Coughlin. And of course, a lot of people were quick to defend the chorus and say, “Things are different now.” […]
I love paperwork. Yesterday, the Diocese of Orange issued a statement responding to the latest sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit against Fr. Richard T. Coughlin. In it, they said: Richard Coughlin was ordained in the archdiocese of Boston in 1953 and incardinated in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the 1960s, predating the Diocese of […]
Lesson of the day for the Diocese of Orange: Don’t lie to the press and public when I can prove you wrong with your own paperwork. Last week, Fr. Richard T. Coughlin, the founder of The All-American Boys Chorus, (who—despite dozens of credible accusations and lawsuits in two states—is still a priest), was sued again in […]
Confused about the Canonical Trial of Archbishop Apuron? Wondering about the secrecy or why Apuron is able to hide out in California while Vatican investigators are asking victims on Guam for depositions? Patrick J. Wall is an advocate and world renowned author/lecturer on the history of child abuse and cover-up in institutional organizations. He began his […]
The era of secret child sex abuse settlements in California is over. I am usually quick to beat up on California Governor Jerry Brown for his poor record on protecting institutions who cover-up child sex abuse. But a new law enacted January 1, 2017, slipped under my radar— and organizations who harbor men and women who […]
It’s been a roller coaster ride for SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. For those of you who are not familiar with the group, this is an organization where I donate a ton of time, and an organization that’s responsible for whom I have become as an advocate. Lately, SNAP has been in the news […]
Schools need to rethink how they handle cases of teachers who are busted with child pornography and/or who molest. Imagine if you received a letter from your child’s school like this: Dear Parents: Today, Mr. John Doe, a long-term substitute teacher and math tutor at our school, was arrested for murder. We learned that he […]
All I wanted to do this week was scream NO! at sportswriters and pundits. The Rose Bowl Game and the Pox of Jerry Sandusky You can’t compare a wide-spread criminal child sex abuse scandal to a free apartment for a running back. You can’t. Sports writers and talking heads said that both Penn State’s and USC’s […]
