The Worthy Adversary

Author: Joelle Casteix

Hawaii Civil Window update
60 sex abuse cases

29 settlements

1 stingy insurance company

Hawaii Bishop Silva – years of experience make him an obfuscator expert

Things have been pretty quiet in Hawaii. And because of a new lawsuit, we now know why.

The Diocese of Honolulu today sued one of its insurers, First Insurance Insurance of Hawaii, for refusing “to honor commitments made in liability policies it sold the church over the course of several decades.”

The lawsuit isn’t the meat of the story. These kinds of suits happen all of the time. Insurance companies don’t like to pay big claims. It’s bad for business.

It’s what’s IN the text of the Diocese’s complaint that is newsworthy.
- Sixty child sex abuse cases have been filed against the Diocese of Honolulu as a result of the civil window
- There have been three rounds of mediation
- Approximately 29 child sex abuse cases against the diocese have already been settled
Since this information didn’t come from the victims’ attorneys, we can only guess that this intel was a part of the mediation privilege … until now. In other words, they aren’t allowed to talk about it (yet—hence the Hawaii radio silence for the past few months). The only party who could talk about it was the Diocese. And they were mad enough at First Insurance to blow their cover.

There are still three more months until the Hawaii civil window closes. Hopefully, this development will encourage more victims (who may have believed that the window was closed) to come forward.

The money quote from the complaint is highlighted in the City Beat story:

[First Insurance has] delayed, obfuscated, and misled its policyholders, consistently putting its interests ahead of the interests [of the church and the claimants.]

Well, if anyone would know delays, obfuscation, and misleading practices, it’d be the Diocese of Honolulu.

Remember, he was the guy who said it “hurt victims” to expose predators.
January 20, 2016
St. John’s, document dumps, and child victims

or … The proof is in the paper, but only if you can find it.

And the monks at St. John’s want to make sure you never find it.

St. John’s: a predators’ paradise

Today, Minnesota Public Radio announced that St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville (MN) is releasing the secret sex abuse files of 18 predatory monks in a large document dump. The monks were forced to release the files to victims as a result of a 2015 lawsuit brought by a victim from the St. John’s Prep School. In theory, it was supposed to be up to the victim when the documents were made public.

Some of the 18 predators whose files are slated to be released live in the St. John’s Monastic Residence (location C above – right smack between the Prep School dorm and cafeteria, in case you were wondering if the offending monks had access to students on campus.). The prep school has students from the 6th to 12th grades. High schoolers can live on campus.

The victim and his attorneys in this case have been releasing the files one or two at a time. The right way …

They carefully examined the files, first making sure that victims and witnesses’ names were redacted.

Then, they put the files in order, made them searchable online, highlighted important information, called out people who covered up abuse, and worked closely with advocates across the country who could use the information in these files to help other victims. (Documents such as this one that showed that diocese lay review boards are usually denied access to a priest’s secret personnel file when making determinations about a priest’s potentially abusive past)

The slow release also ensures that documents receive the attention they deserve (as in my own case.)

Anyone familiar with politics knows that this kind of careful, thoughtful, and victim-centered document release is a disaster for organizations like St. John’s, who has a decades-long history of covering up abuse. It’s called the “drip, drip, drip …” and can be devastating to politicians and political causes, as well as organizations that enable and abet child sex abuse.

Hence today’s announcement of the document dump. It works in politics, so it’s no surprise that the monks are giving it a shot.

There is nothing “transparent” or victim-friendly about the large-scale dumping of these kinds of documents. The monks want everyone in a panic—victims, advocates, journalists—so that information is missed, cover-up remains undetected, and wrongdoers are “forgotten” so that they can continue to live happily on the St. John’s campus.

Which only makes one wonder: what else do the monks have to hide?

January 19, 2016
The Well-Armored Child – FLASH SALE!

Woo Hoo! I’m on sale!

THE WELL-ARMORED CHILD – the book that is being hailed as the “definitive child safety manual” – is on sale for only 99 cents (YAY!) for the Kindle and Nook.

You can get the Kindle version here. The Nook version is available by clicking here.

In the book, you can learn age-specific tools and strategies to keep your children (from birth to adulthood) empowered and safer from predators. You’ll also learn about the importance of changing our statutes of limitation for sex crimes and how and why our institutions (such as the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts) have failed us when it comes to child protection.

Don’t have an ebook reader? Don’t worry. Both formats allow you to read the book on your computer and offer apps to read ebooks on your tablet and phone (if you like very tiny books – and aren’t getting old and far-sighted like me).

So, if you’re in the mood for a great book at a bargain price – and if you’d like to make my life 100% more awesome – just pick up a copy of The Well-Armored Child for Nook or Kindle for 99 cents this week.

The sale ends Monday, January 18.

Last of all – a sincere THANK YOU for all your support and for taking the time to check out my work. It really means a lot to me.

As always, just email me back if you have any questions – and keep your fingers crossed 🙂

Next month: You’ll have access to a FREE copy of one of my most popular ebooks.

January 13, 2016
“He created the group to find children to abuse”

Children’s Theater Company of Minneapolis has a problem that is never going to go away.

Yesterday, a victim of sexual abuse filed the fourth abuse and cover-up lawsuit against the theater company.

The latest civil lawsuit, brought by a woman who is now an academic advisor at the University of Minnesota, charges that Stephen Adamczk sexually abused her in the early 1980s.

Other lawsuits charge that former employee Adamczak and former director John Clark Donahue sexually abused children who were involved in theater productions.

Donahue, who was arrested in 1983, admitted to sexually abusing at least 16 children. Adamczak was acquitted at trial and died in 2007.

This latest case will likely unearth evidence that the criminal jury was never able to see.

Children’s Theater of Minnesota is fighting all of the lawsuits.

***

I have pretty strong opinions about performing arts organizations whose founders are serial sexual molesters. Shocking, I know.

Here in Orange County, CA, we have The All-American Boys Chorus, founded by serial child predator Richard T. Coughlin. Coughlin was very good at attracting voice coaches who molested kids, too.

A group founded by a man who wanted a steady stream of boys to sexually abuse

All of the “good work” that a chorus or a theater group claims to do cannot erase the pain of the dozens of children who were hurt by Coughlin, Giese, Donahue, or Adamczak. I believe both groups should be disbanded.

In fact, anyone who cares about the welfare of children in the performing arts would want the groups disbanded. (Then start a new group, with a new board, built on a foundation of child safety and education.)

The performing arts can do wonderful things for children. But at the same time, we have to remember that the arts are a system based on audition, talent, favoritism, money, and power.

Children who already ache for attention will ache even more in a performing arts environment. Good teachers know that and make sure to be EXTRA vigilant when it comes to the physical, emotional and mental health and safety of the children in their care.

I know about bad organizations because I was one of those kids who ached for attention and wanted to perform. And because cover-up was more important than child safety, I paid the price.

So did Donohue’s victims. From Fox 9 (Minneapolis):

Uncompromising and undeniably talented, Donahue had an almost cult-like following. Young performers sought his praise and desperately wanted to be part of his inner circle. But the starring roles, the attention and adoration, sometimes came at an unforgivable price.

Who would want to work for an organization that was founded by a serial child predator (and just so that he could have a steady stream of children to sexually abuse)?

Who would want to send their children there?

And before you write in the comments about how “wonderful” these two groups are, remember: any “success” or “positive” aspects of the group were built on the carcasses of sexually abused children.

Sticking your head in the sand and saying “things are different now” will never change that.

We’ll learn more as the lawsuits unfold.

*** “The definitive child safety manual” – The Well-Armored Child ebook (Nook and Kindle) is on sale for $.99 – until January 18, 2016 ***

January 13, 2016
How do you solve a problem like Nienstedt?

Former St. Paul and Minneapolis Bishop John Nienstedt

What do you do with a disgraced bishop, whose involvement in the cover-up of child sexual abuse led to his being forced out (as well as a bankruptcy for his Archdiocese and criminal charges against the organization)?

Put him in a parish, apparently.

Yesterday, former St. Paul and Minneapolis Chancellor (and whistleblower) Jennifer Haselberger published the parish bulletin from St. Philip Catholic Church in Battle Creek, Michigan.

John Nienstedt is going to be their new fill-in parish priest.

What does this say to the faithful at that parish? We hope you don’t notice, but we are passing our trash to you. We know you go to church for spiritual growth and healing, but we hope you can just “forgive” the fact that we stuck you with a guy who covered-up sex abuse, has been accused himself, and who led his archdiocese down a criminal path of disaster.

In fact, I bet that Kalamazoo Bishop Paul Bradley and Twin Cities Archbishop Bernard Hebda are going to use the rhetorical device of “forgiveness” to shame Battle Creek Catholics into accepting Nienstedt.

Nienstedt shouldn’t be a priest anymore. He blew it. If Archbishop Hebda wants to throw Nienstedt a bone and let him keep the collar (and the pension), Nienstedt should live a life of quiet prayer and penance.

And Nienstedt has no right or standing to act as a spiritual leader of anyone.

I hope Kalamazoo Catholics punch back twice as hard … by closing their wallets.

*** “The definitive child safety manual” – The Well-Armored Child ebook (Nook and Kindle) is on sale for $.99 – until January 18, 2016 ***

January 13, 2016