Crozier priest Father Jerry Funcheon, who is the subject of the first lawsuit filed under Hawaii’s civil window, is back in the news – this time because Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis church officials “forgot” to put him on a website that lists abusive clerics. Church documents show that Funcheon may have abused up…Continue reading Gerald Funcheon is back in the news
There is little time left: Victims of the Irish Christian Brothers or victims abused at Irish Christian Brothers schools only have until August 1, 2012 to come forward and get justice in the courts. Last year, the Irish Christian Brothers (ICB), a Catholic religious order based in New Rochelle, New York, sought bankruptcy protection after…Continue reading Deadline Looming for Victims of Irish Christian Brothers
The Michael Harris trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 18 at 9am. Barring any last-minute settlements, you’ll see me at Dept. CX103, Orange County Supreme Court. It should be a barn burner. Get ready to see some diocese dirty laundry. Even Bishop Tod Brown concedes Harris is a monster. The victim is an active…Continue reading Michael Harris trial is a go …
I mean, c’mon. Fr. Davila pled GUILTY. He wouldn’t pass the diocese background check, yet he’s in a parish: Bishops Robert Brom and Cirillo Flores say that they have addressed all of the pastoral concerns. Really? How about the concerns of the victim? ************************************ For immediate release: Tuesday, June 12 For more information: David Clohessy…Continue reading Call me crazy, but priests who admit to sexually assaulting ANYONE need to find a new job …
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
**Updated with correction and Diocese Reponse** File this under: “What the hell are they thinking?” Diocese of San Diego priest Fr. Jose Alexis Davila, who in April pled guilty to to battery and “engaging in an unlawful touching of an intimate part of the victim’s body,” is back at work at his old parish. You know, the one…Continue reading Plead guilty to sexual assault? No worries! Brom has got your back!
A sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit against former priest Msgr. Michael Harris, Mater Dei High School and the Diocese of Orange is slated to go to trial in Orange County Superior Court on June 18. Harris, the former principal of Mater Dei and Santa Margarita High Schools, has been smack in the center of the clergy sex…Continue reading Notorious former OC priest Michael Harris headed to court on more abuse charges
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
“A bishop. A priest. A woman. A boy.” My friend Steve Julian‘s play Altarcations will debut in June at the 2012 Hollywood Fringe Festival. I met Steve (whom some of you may recognize as the morning host of KPCC‘s Morning Edition) after I “outed” one of his former high school teachers as an admitted perpetrator…Continue reading Altarcations debuts at the Hollywood Fringe Festival
The first lawsuit under Hawaii’s landmark civil window was filed yesterday in Hawaii Circuit Court. The lawsuit (posted here) charges that Fr. Gerald Funcheon sexually abused a 13-year-old boy at Damien Memorial School in 1983/1984 during an overnight retreat on the eastern shore of Oahu. Considering Funcheon’s history (you can read some of the documents here), we…Continue reading **UPDATED**FIRST HAWAII LAWSUIT FILED** Gerald Funcheon: A missing priest appears ….
Things are looking uglier and uglier for the Irish Christian Brothers at Damien Memorial High School in Honolulu. To date, we have found five known perpetrators who worked at the school, had direct access to students, and abused. There are the three we discovered in January: Fr. Gerald Funcheon, Br. Robert Brouillette, and Br. Thomas Ford, And…Continue reading I don’t think this is what Fr. Damien had in mind …
Oliver O’Grady is like a cockroach: He will never, never, ever go away. A new Oliver O’Grady victim has come forward and filed a lawsuit against the notorious predator and the Diocese of Stockton. SNAP will have a press conference tomorrow to release details. On the heels of the Michael Kelly verdict, this is very,…Continue reading More Trouble for Stockton: Oliver O’Grady Re-emerges
Earlier this year in Kansas City, SNAP’s David Clohessy was ordered to give a six-hour deposition in a child sex abuse lawsuit. Neither SNAP nor David himself were a party or even knew the victim. Critics piled on Clohessy, calling him evasive and a con-artist. In the end, the deposition has nothing to do with…Continue reading Disconnect, Pt 2: Subpoenas are for the little people
From today’s Stockton Record: From left, Bishop Stephen Blaire, consultant Michael Heenan and Monsignor Richard J. Ryan walk down a hallway inside the San Joaquin County Courthouse on Tuesday morning, when jurors in Michael Kelly’s trial were sent home for the day. (emphasis mine) Consultant? As a PR person myself, I don’t fault Heenan for…Continue reading Do I detect a disconnect?
…that he skipped the country, just to make sure that the cops never find him. I hope his supporters (like the ones who tried to tamper with the jury) finally realized that he just flipped them the bird.
The jury came in with a unanimous verdict for Michael Kelly’s victim. If a jury can determine that in less than two hours, why did the Diocese of Stockton allow him to keep working with kids? For years?
Why, oh why, does the Catholic Church continue to bestow honors and awards on tragically flawed wrong-doers? Disgraced Former Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali Trial watchers in Philadelphia have been treated to a firsthand view of vile and disgusting human behavior. What makes it worse is that the evildoers are priests and the victims are children. The…Continue reading Honoring the tragically flawed is tragically flawed
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
Woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation (Luke 6:24–26) The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, one of the main organizations for whom I volunteer my advocacy efforts (and to whom I donate), has recently been under siege in Missouri. Catholic bishops there (under the direction of…Continue reading Putting the “Bully” in the religious Bully Pulpit