Recent hazing and violence lawsuits against Mater Dei have alerted a lot of noses to a stink that has been brewing for years: decades of child sexual abuse, hazing, and cover-up at the infamous high school. The parents of a recent hazing victim remarked to me that they had had no idea about the scandals…Continue reading School for Scandal 101: Santa Ana’s Mater Dei High School
I had the honor to host a survivor-centric informercial on victims’ rights in New Jersey. If you were sexually abused as a child in that state, you need to watch – time is running out.
Healing your heart and your mind often starts with making peace with your body (and, as a result. how you nourish that body). In the next series of blog posts, I am going to do a deep dive into the big connection between childhood sexual abuse/childhood trauma and food issues. The connection is a troubling…Continue reading Childhood Sexual Abuse and Food Part One: Why do I have gut issues?
Today, the Associated Press released a blockbuster article about how the Catholic Church in the United States has obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in PPP loans, despite a lack of need. In Orange County, California, Bishop Kevin Vann treated PPP loans like a taxpayer-funded ATM machine. Catholic entities under Vann’s direct management collected more than…Continue reading Diocese of Orange snags more than $24 mil in PPP loans
If you think 2020 isn’t going well for you, take a look at the Boy Scouts: it’s estimated that up to 50,000 victims of child sexual abuse could come forward in the Chapter 11 Boy Scout bankruptcy. Survivors until November 15 to file paperwork and join the bankruptcy, which I predict will uncover decades of…Continue reading A Day of Reckoning for the Boy Scouts
Fresno Bishop Joseph V. Brennan promised a list. Did he think we forgot? Now that my white paper on the sexual abuse of women in the Catholic Church is complete—and getting a great response—I am beginning work on a complete analysis of California’s Catholic dioceses, sexual abuse, and cover-up. I thought I would start with…Continue reading Diocese of Fresno promised us a list of accused priests. Where is it?
What if the cornerstone of our conventional wisdom about the victims of the Catholic Church and clergy sex abuse crisis was wrong? What if, in a statistically viable sample of survivors of abuse in the Catholic Church, 50% of respondents were female? What if you also knew that this result is almost statically impossible to…Continue reading What if women comprised 50% of sex abuse victims in the Catholic Church?
The Arizona Child Victims’ Act has not been in the headlines much—Covid and the elections have stolen most of the news airtime in that state. Don’t let the quiet fool you: Arizona’s Catholic Bishops have a long and sordid history of enabling and protecting child sex predators. Today, victims filed two new child sex abuse…Continue reading Arizona Child Victims’ Act: Two New Lawsuits Filed
In honor of Father’s Day, the LA Times published an essay by author Mimi Bull. The catch? Her father was a practicing Catholic priest. No one reading the essay will be satisfied. Mimi’s mother was forced into a life of secrecy and shame, unable to acknowledge the daughter she loved until Mimi was well into…Continue reading When your father is Father
Yesterday, Hollywood actor and Scientologist Danny Masterson was arrested and charged with raping three women. Two other women have alleged that Masterson raped them, but because of expired statutes of limitations and/or insufficient evidence, the LA District Attorney’s office declined to press charges. The victimization of these women did end at rape. From The New…Continue reading What role does Scientology have in covering up sex crimes?
Do you have information on the following men: Fr. Robert P. Byrne – Priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. For you true crime nerds out there, he was the family priest of Manson Family victim Steven Parent. I do not know whether or not he is alive. Edgar D. Cahn – May or may…Continue reading Can you help?
Over the weekend, Catholic hymn composer, performer, and youth conference organizer David Haas was dropped by his publisher after the company learned the musician was under investigation by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for sexual battery and other offenses. Haas also ran a music camp for teens called Music Ministry Alive, which according…Continue reading EXCLUSIVE: Catholic composer accused of sexual battery worked with known predator for years
Legislative work can be complicated. Take my word for it. And sometimes the hardest decision to make is the best one: if a law protects predators, it’s not a good law. That is what happened in Colorado. And Colorado did the right thing. Yesterday, the sponsors of a potential law to help future victims of…Continue reading Colorado: Refusing to settle for a second rate law
There are voices that have been silenced—or simply ignored—in the clergy sex abuse crisis. We have known for years that “priest dumping” has been a common practice in the Catholic Church: bishops and other officials send white, English-speaking predator priests to indigenous, refugee, or immigrant communities, or communities of color. These communities are devoutly Catholic.…Continue reading When adversity is your gift
Yesterday, I wrote about the Child Sex Abuse Civil Window cases that are beginning to flood the New York judicial system as the courts reopen. But what about California? There has been little news about California’s Child Victims’ Act cases because the courts have been closed for filings (a “court holiday”) and/or are only beginning…Continue reading What’s going on in California?
Eleven priests who have not appeared on any lists of accused clerics—either court documents, diocese lists, or press reports—have been named as alleged predators in new lawsuits filed against the Catholic Archdiocese of New York this week. The 11 were named in a press release today, which also announced 59 new lawsuits. The priests publicly…Continue reading Re-opening of NY courts exposes 11 newly accused clerics
Buried in the news about COVID and the global George Floyd protests, the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, VA, quietly announced today that it is starting “formal investigations” of child sexual abuse against four former priests. What is NOT interesting about the investigation is that there are four accused priests. What IS interesting is the relevant—but…Continue reading Tough Questions for the Diocese of Richmond
“The Apostle” and a Cardinal. The self-appointed leader of a Mexico-based religious sect and the former Treasurer of the Vatican. Two men accused of and jailed for child sexual abuse. Now, both have had their charges reversed. Justice has not been served. The Apostle Naason Joaquin Garcia, the head of the La Luz Del Mundo…Continue reading Naason Joaquin Garcia and George Pell: Justice Denied
The data is in and the key take-aways, I believe, are surprising: the Survivor Insights Survey results will be published soon. For once, COVID 19 has actually provided some benefits. Because work and life have come to screeching halts for many professionals, I have expanded access to my expert on the visual representation of data,…Continue reading Survivor Insights Survey Update
Friends and colleagues: I am compiling data for a research project that is going to do a deep-dive into insights about the survivor community. The first phase is a five-minute survey for SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. You need not be abused by a priest – I am looking for survivors of…Continue reading Survivors: I need your insight
