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
From The Daily Breeze: Superintendent John Deasy of the LA Unified School District “told principals at 900 campuses to scour 40 years’ worth of personnel files for allegations of sexual wrongdoing, inappropriate behavior, violence or drugs, and gave them until May 30 to complete the arduous task.” They found 600 possible cases and forwarded 331…Continue reading LAUSD Finds 600 Cases of Possible Abuse
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
No one—I repeat: NO ONE— wants to get in front of television cameras and say that they were sexually abused. But when someone does, and does it in an eloquent, emotional and powerful way, that person changes the world. Case in point: Jessica Bohman Jessica Prater Bohman, age 6 five According to Bohman, her family members,…Continue reading A Recipe for Child Protection: Add One Part Hero
NEWS EVENT: New sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit filed against Bakersfield church Youth minister admitted to molesting girls Yet church officials refused to report crimes to police To keep victim quiet, they told family “get church counseling” Group says “Come forward, report abuse, get help & call police” What: Holding signs and…Continue reading New Allegations of Abuse Against Bakersfield Foursquare Church
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
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
Serve on a Diocese lay review board, and you can go to jail. Or at least that’s what Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert Finn says. Bishop Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph are each being charged with one misdemeanor of failure to report suspected child abuse. The charges stem from the case of…Continue reading Another Lay Review Board Thrown Under The Bus …
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
If you care about clergy sex abuse victims, you should read this. If you think that the Catholic Church is doing everything right in the scandal, you must read this. And then you must read it again. Thousands of pages of child sex abuse and cover-up documents are now public in the Wilmington Delaware Diocese…Continue reading Consider this your homework