Sheila contacted us after hearing about our efforts to take away his professional Therapy licenses. She was obviously having great difficulty coping with the issues associated with her rape as a child.   Paul Groleau treated her trauma as an opportunity to sexually assault her in counseling. During these sessions, Groleau was an ordained priest working as a licensed therapist for the NH Catholic Church.  

  Sheila spoke to the Catholic Church about Paul Groleau's need for vaginal and oral sex to cover his counseling fees with the Church.   Groleau started grooming her when she was sixteen and was able to rape her when she was eighteen.  The Church told her she was not eligible for a settlement since she was able to make adult decisions when she fucked their therapist.

Sheila wanted to share her truth in the hope others would learn from her story. She was raped and sodomized by Paul Groleau after being raped by her brother in elementary school. We knew her depression was both severe and critical. 

   We brought two horses to NH to seek his arrest and license revocation. Despite our best efforts, we lost Sheila months later. She saw no way out if Groleau was able to continue as a licensed rapist. 

 The enclosed picture of Paul Groleau was taken when a survivor working with us took this picture during a counseling session. This rapist agreed to counsel her for sexual assaults against her as a child.  

 Convent Kelly spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayers and Catholic Church money to study the Catholic Church for several years. She never told the public of those Catholic clergy rapists and their clear and present danger to the NH community.  

   Our complaint about Paul Groleau's therapy licenses is not in his file with the State Mental Health Board of NH. The Catholic Church has acknowledged at least three former priests with therapy licenses are working in NH with State issued therapy licenses.  

The plaintiff suing the archdiocese is identified as a 22-year-old Jane Doe. She says church officials failed to disclose previous sexual abuse allegations against Reverend Kevin McGoldrick when he worked in Philadelphia.

In 2017, when the 22-year-old was at a Roman Catholic college in Nashville, Tennessee, McGoldrick invited her to his rectory for dinner.

According to the complaint, when the priest and the plaintiff were alone, McGoldrick gave her bourbon until she was so drunk that she threw up.

He is accused of telling her his life in the priesthood feels lonely and proceeding to grope and kiss her as she faded in and out of consciousness.

Stewart Ryan, the lawyer representing the plaintiff, says the woman still “seriously suffers from the trauma of that encounter that was inflicted upon her as a result of the assault but also as a result of the way she was treated by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia."

Ryan said she petitioned the Philadelphia Archdiocese for information on prior abuse allegations but was ignored.

"The Archdiocese of Philadelphia, despite finding her account credible, repeatedly refused to provide her information or acknowledge the reality that, in fact, there had been prior accusations that were investigated by the archdiocese before he was ever sent to Nashville in the first place."

The plaintiff's lawyers say there are still grounds to sue, regardless of Pennsylvania's statute of limitations, which allows victims up to two years to report their case, because the plaintiff wasn't made aware of previous allegations against the defendant until September 2022.

KYW Newsradio reached out to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. They said they will not comment on pending litigation.

 Philly Archdiocese facing civil suit (audacy.com) 

May 23 (Reuters) - Some 2,000 Illinois children were sexually abused by Roman Catholic clergy between the 1950s and 2010s, the state attorney general said in a report released on Tuesday that also detailed how abuse was often tolerated and concealed by Church leaders.

The 696-page report, released by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, substantiated claims of abuse made against 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers in the state's six dioceses. At least 1,997 children were sexually abused over the past seven decades, the report said.

The report published for the first time the names of 149 clergy and religious brothers who it said had been the subject of credible allegations of sexual abuse.

It was initiated in 2018 by Raoul's predecessor Lisa Madigan, who accused the Church of underreporting cases when it initially identified 103 abusers among its ranks.

The report joins a long list of investigations across the world into sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and the frequent practice of covering up for abusers and transferring them to new assignments, thereby putting more children at risk.

The abuse scandals have shredded the Church's reputation and been a major challenge for Pope Francis, who has passed a series of measures over the last 10 years aimed at holding the Church hierarchy more accountable, with mixed results.

"Decades of Catholic leadership decisions and policies have allowed known child-sex abusers to hide, often in plain sight," Raoul said.

In Illinois, investigators said they pored over thousands of files, conducted hours of interviews with leaders and fielded more than 600 victim complaints.

Many of the people who were abused cannot seek legal remedies due to the statute of limitations on crimes committed in some cases decades ago, Raoul said. The report in part was undertaken to bring some relief to victims, who he characterized as "survivors."

In a statement, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, sought to blunt criticism that the Church had failed to disclose the names of the abusers identified in the report. He said most of the 149 were members of religious orders that were not under direct supervision by dioceses.

"Survivors will forever be in our prayers, and we have devoted ourselves to rooting out this problem and providing healing to victims," Cupich said.

About 3.5 million Catholics lived in Illinois as of 2019, according to the Catholic Conference of Illinois, making up 27% of the state's population. The state's dioceses included about 950 parishes and more than 2,200 priests.

 WATCH: AG report finds nearly 350 clergy accused of sex abuse not listed by Illinois dioceses - YouTube 

 Illinois dioceses tolerated decades of abuse by clergy, report finds | Reuters 

 California Clergy Abuse | Accused Priest List & Settlements (abuselawsuit.com) 

 For the first time, the Justice Department is leading a statewide investigation into allegations of abuse by Catholic priests. U.S. attorneys have subpoenaed at least seven of Pennsylvania's eight Catholic dioceses. Sources tell CBS News the diocese of Buffalo, New York, is also a target. Nikki Battiste reports. 

  Feds subpoena Catholic dioceses in Pa., N.Y. amid priest abuse scandal - YouTube 

 I Uncovered Abuse in the Catholic Church. Why Was it Ignored? | ‘Almost Famous’ by Op-Docs - YouTube 

 Evan Davis speaks to Walter Robinson and Mike Rezendes from the Boston Globe - the journalists who exposed the scandal paedophile Catholic priests in the US. A film about their story, Spotlight, has just come out.

 Spotlight - exposing the US Catholic priest child abuse scandal - BBC Newsnight - YouTube 

 Women Sex Slaves of the Catholic Church is a very important documentary about a serious taboo that has been broken recently. The film shines a light on sexual abuse of nuns by priests and reveals that thousands of nuns were sexually abused for decades by priests around the world. Women have endured years of sexual predation, becoming pregnant, being forced to have abortions. Here they openly testify and break the "omerta" on a subject that has been drowning in the Catholic church for decades.  From 1994 until 2015 the Vatican was alerted by internal confidential reports about churchmen that regularly rape nuns in more than 23 countries. These reports have been hushed up and the rapists continue to harm freely. With the complicity of the ecclesiastical courts, their victims have been reduced to silence, sometimes pushed to abort, often excluded from their community.  Pope Francis admitted as early as February 2019, that "Priests and Bishops" had committed sexual assaults on nuns. Following the revelations of sexual abuse, more nuns have begun to speak out and denounce the attacks they have been subjected to. One can't help but be curious that the Pope makes this public statement when he knows the film will come out...  It's interesting to see these nuns whose ages are different, find the courage to break the silence on camera to testify to these systemic sexual abuses. French director Marie-Pierre Raimbault collaborated with investigative journalist Eric Quintin for more than three years, to obtain the firsthand accounts of those nuns who claim they were used as sex slaves by Catholic priests.  This is yet another scandal which is engulfing the Catholic Church. At a time when the Vatican has taken its most concrete steps to address a long ordeal with sex abuse and cover-ups, a growing chorus of nuns is speaking out about the suffering they have endured at the hands of the priesthood, including rape, forced abortion, emotional abuse and labor exploitation.   We applaud each and every woman for her courage. It's never easy to speak up. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loyVCjaI-jM&ab_channel=REALWOMEN%2FREALSTORIES

Jul 1, 2013

Sister Charlotte, a former Roman Catholic nun, spent over 22 years in a cloistered convent, hidden away from public scrutiny.  She delivers a shocking and gripping testimony of abuse, torture, rape, pedophilia, and even murder; all of which she says were a daily part of convent life.
 

Pope Francis is drawing attention to a problem that the Vatican has long sought to downplay: the abuses of power by mother superiors against nuns who have little recourse but to obey

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press 

ROME -- Pope Francis on Saturday drew attention to a problem that the Vatican has long sought to downplay: the abuses of power by mother superiors against nuns who, because of their vows of obedience, have little recourse but to obey.

During an audience with members of the Vatican’s congregation for religious orders, Francis cited a new investigative expose of the problem written by a reporter for the Holy See’s media, Salvatore Cernuzio.

Francis noted that the book, “Veil of Silence: Abuse, Violence, Frustrations in Female Religious Life,” doesn’t detail “striking” cases of violence and abuse “but rather the everyday abuses that harm the strength of the vocation.”

The book, published in Italy last month, contains 11 cases of current or former religious sisters who suffered abuses at the hands of their superiors. Most were psychological and spiritual abuses and often resulted in the women leaving or being thrown out of their communities and questioning their faith in God and the church. Some ended up on the streets, others found refuge in a home for abused women.

The book follows an article on the same topic by the Vatican-approved Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica in 2020 and earlier reports in the Vatican’s women’s magazine about the sexual abuse of nuns by priests and exploitation of them by the male church hierarchy for free domestic labor.

The new book peels back another layer of the more insidious forms of psychological abuses committed by superiors against their own nuns, which have long been covered up by a veil of secrecy. It contains a devastatingly essay by one of the highest-ranking women at the Vatican, Sister Natalie Becquart, who said the cases must force the church to look at the sometimes toxic reality of life in religious orders, tend to the victims and prevent future abuses from occuring.

She said it also reinforces the need for the Catholic hierarchy to ensure that priests and nuns are trained in the correct way to exercise obedience and authority, saying the erroneous application of both had led to the problem.

Francis has tried to crack down on the near-absolute power enjoyed by religious and lay superiors as well as the proliferation of new religious movements, some of which have seen horrific cases of sexual, spiritual and other forms of abuse committed by their charismatic founders. The Vatican has recently imposed term limits for leaders and is applying a more rigorous process for new groups to be approved in the church.

The Jesuit pope, who knows well the dynamic of religious community life, told the members of the Vatican congregation Saturday that there is always the threat that founders of religious orders or new religious movements will assume too much power and exercise it improperly.

The risk, he warned, is that they claim to be the only ones who can interpret the particular spirit of the movement “as if they were above the church.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjqSwss8FD0&ab_channel=CBSNews

 Pope cites new book on nun abuse in warning to superiors :: WRAL.com - Corruption by Cops 

Top 5 Most SINFUL Nuns - YouTube 

Dec 28, 2020

Religious orders are supposed to be spiritual sanctuaries for those who join. But for these women, the order of Sisters Minor of Mary Immaculate was a nightmare of alleged abuse. Now, years later, four of those former sisters are speaking out in hopes of preventing abuse.  

These Former Nuns Were Allegedly Abused Within The Convent Walls. Now, They Are Speaking Out. - YouTube 

Aug 30, 2012

439,310 views • Aug 30, 2012

A free written transcript of this message is available at https://media-cloud.sermonaudio.com/t.... Free written transcripts of this message are available in 20 languages at https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninf... video is partly based on the book "The Truth Set Us Free: Twenty Former Nuns Tell Their Stories of God’s Amazing Grace" & is available on Richard Bennett's website www.BereanBeacon.org at http://www.bereanbeacon.org/#/books/. See our playlist "Dealing with Roman Catholicism, Idolatry & the Virgin Mary" with 181 videos & counting at   • Dealing with Roma...  . Mary Allen spent 26 years as a Nun. She gives a personal and very descriptive account of her long life in the convent. Her coming to true Christian salvation many years after convent life is fascinating. Share this video with family, friends & nuns. "What Every Catholic Should Know" playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list....  Larry Wessels, director of Christian Answers of Austin, Texas/ Christian Debater (YouTube channel CANSWERSTV at http://www.youtube.com/user/CAnswersT... websites: http://www.BIBLEQUERY.ORG, http://www.HISTORYCART.COM, & https://www.muslimhope.com/) presents former Roman Catholic priest for 22 years Richard Bennett for this video. Larry actually attends the same church in Austin, Texas (http://dsf.org/) with Richard Bennett (website: http://www.BEREANBEACON.ORG) so the opportunity to present Richard's research is truly by God's providence. Richard Bennett is joined in studio by former nun Mary Allen for this presentation.  Roman Catholic nuns, similar in tradition to ancient Rome's "vestal virgins" (the Vestals or Vestal Virgins (Vestales, singular Vestalis), were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The Vestals were freed of the usual social obligations to marry and bear children, and took a vow of chastity in order to devote themselves to the study and correct observance of state rituals) or Buddhist nuns, think their ascetic lifestyle will earn them eternal salvation. Even Mother Teresa felt the emptiness of this type of "works to earn salvation" writing, "How cold—how empty—how painful is my heart.—Holy communion—Holy Mass—all the holy things of spiritual life—of the life of Christ in me—are all so empty—so cold—so un-wanted. The physical situation of my poor, left in the streets unwanted, unloved, un-claimed—are the true picture of my own spiritual life, of my love for Jesus...." (Letter to Fr. Neuner, May 12, 1962, Mother Teresa, p. 232).  The Dominican nuns were founded by St. Dominic even before he had established the friars. They are contemplatives in the cloistered life. The Friars and Nuns together form the Order of Preachers properly speaking. The nuns celebrated their 800th anniversary in 2006.  Dominic nevertheless became the spiritual father to several Albigensian women he had reconciled to the faith, and in 1206 he established them in a convent in Prouille. This convent would become the foundation of the Dominican nuns, thus making the Dominican nuns older than the Dominican friars.   Dominic sought to establish a new kind of order, one that would bring the dedication and systematic education of the older monastic orders like the Benedictines to bear on the religious problems of the burgeoning population of cities, but with more organizational flexibility than either monastic orders or the secular clergy. Dominic's new order was to be a preaching order, trained to preach in the vernacular languages. Rather than earning their living on vast farms as the monasteries had done, the new friars would survive by begging, "selling" themselves through persuasive preaching.  True Christian believers have the "Spirit of truth" (John 14:17) and through that Spirit, a vital bond of union with Jesus Christ. If anyone has Christ as Savior, he or she has the Holy Spirit as Indweller (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Anyone who claims to belong to Jesus Christ but gives no evidence of being indwelt by the Holy Spirit lacks the indisputable proof to establish his or her claim. No test could be more easily applied and none is more decisive, as Scripture explains; "now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Romans 8:9). The consolation of the Holy Spirit is so basic to Christian life that the Apostle Paul calls it "everlasting consolation;" "now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace...." (2 Thessalonians 2:16). For those who are truly saved, "everlasting consolation" follows on the everlasting love, the eternal redemption, and the everlasting life that is found in the Gospel of grace (Ephesians 2:8-10). Thus living in a monastery or convent is unnecessary & hoping relics, praying to Mary, or following ascetic rules & rituals will lead to salvation is worthless (Galatians 1:6-9). 

A Nun's Story: From Convent Bondage (Sexual Desire, Dating Priests, Rituals, No Bible) to Jesus - YouTube 

Last year, archeologists detected what they believed to be 200 unmarked graves at a residential school in Canada, bringing new attention to one of the country's most shameful chapters. Anderson Cooper reports.

600+ Unmarked Graves Found At Indigenous Residential School in Canada  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBXQykkSEUM  Residential school survivors reflect on a brutal legacy: ‘That could’ve been me.’   It’s been 51 years since Deedee Lerat, 60, attended the Marieval Indian Residential School on her home reservation of Cowessess in Saskatchewan, Canada. But the memories of the abuses the Salteaux Cree woman endured there still haunt her. “There was so much fear,” she says.  The fear came rushing back when the Cowessess First Nation announced on June 23 that it had discovered 751 unmarked graves at the site of the school. “I would like answers,” says Lerat. “Why weren’t they reported? Why wasn’t this stopped?” She was five years old when she was forced to attend Marieval. “That could’ve been me.”    Residential school survivors reflect on a brutal legacy: ‘That could’ve been me.’ (nationalgeographic.com)     Canadian government asks Pope to apologize for mass graves of Indigenous children    The Kamloops Indian Residential School was one of the largest in Canada and operated by the Catholic Church between 1890 and 1969 before it was closed in the late 1970s. A 2015 report from the Canadian government detailed physical, sexual and emotional abuse some of the children suffered, and in 2017, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau personally asked the Pope to consider an official apology.   The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2018 said the Pope could not personally apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in the residential schools.   https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/556647-canadian-government-asks-pope-to-apologize-for-mass-graves-of  PBS Commentators Offer Great Perspective On Catholic Church Attrocities   PBS is an American public broadcast service. Wikipedia  Brooks and Capehart on Indigenous boarding schools   Brooks and Capehart on Indigenous boarding schools, Biden budget, child tax credit - YouTube

  At least 9 Canadian churches set ablaze amid indigenous anger over residential schools  At least nine Catholic and Anglican churches across Canada have gone up in flames amid a backlash over the country's use of church-run residential schools to forcibly assimilate indigenous children from the late 19th century until the 1970s.  The majority of the church fires occurred on indigenous First Nations land. The recent discoveries of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential schools within the last month appear to have made churches a target.  WIFE OF JAILED CANADIAN PASTOR SPEAKS OUT: 'THIS ISN'T THE COUNTRY I GREW UP IN'  Historically, more than 150,000 First Nations children were required to attend state-funded Christian schools as part of a program to assimilate them into Canadian society. They were forced to convert to Christianity and not allowed to speak their native languages. Many were beaten and verbally abused, and up to 6,000 are said to have died. While it's unclear how the children buried in the unmarked graves died, the discovery of their remains has ignited anger among First Nations communities across the country.  The majority of the church fires have targeted Catholic churches.  Sacred Heart Catholic Church, located in Penticton Indian Band in British Columbia, was destroyed in fire on June 21. A few hours later that same morning, St. Gregory Catholic Church, which sits on Osoyoos Indian Band lands, also in British Columbia, was set ablaze.  On June 26, two more Catholic churches on indigenous land were burned to the ground: Our Lady of Lourdes Chopaka and St. Ann's Church.  That same day, St. Paul, an Anglican church in British Columbia, was set on fire. The church survived that fire with only minor damage, but a second blaze on July 1 destroyed the building.  Authorities were called to a blaze at Siksika First Nation Catholic Church on June 28, but were able to extinguish the fire before it caused major structural damage.  St. Jean Baptiste Paris Church burned to the ground on June 30. Videos posted online showed the Alberta church engulfed in flames.    At least 9 Canadian churches set ablaze amid indigenous anger over residential schools | Fox News    As At The Least 20 Canadian Church Buildings Burn, Politicians And Others ENDORSE The Arson – JP   For as houses of worship, some of which serve immigrant and American Indian communities, are set alight by arsonists, a civil libertarian tweeted “Burn it all down.” What’s more, some politicians have, incredibly, tacitly or explicitly endorsed this sentiment.  

 Murder, Rape, Abuse, and Attempted Drownings Were Life In Catholic Convent Hell!

Catholic Church Tries To Hide Bodies Of 800 Children - Children Of Shame   Tuam, a name that traumatized the whole of Ireland in the spring of 2014, when a hidden mass grave containing the remains of some 800 children was discovered on the former grounds of a home for single mothers.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwRuCGCaQqg  We Saw Nuns Kill Children: The Ghosts of St. Joseph's Catholic Orphanage  By Christine Kenneally, Buzzfeed, Senior Contributor Buzzfeednews.com August 27, 2018    Sally figured the boy fell from the window in 1944 or so, because she was moving to the “big girls” dormitory that day. Girls usually moved when they were 6, though residents of St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Burlington, Vermont, did not always have a clear sense of their age — birthdays, like siblings and even names, being one of the many human attributes that were stripped from them when they passed through its doors. She recounted his fall in a deposition on Nov. 6, 1996, as part of a remarkable group of lawsuits that 28 former residents brought against the nuns, the diocese, and the social agency that oversaw the orphanage. I watched the deposition — all 19 hours of grainy, scratchy videotape — more than two decades later. By that time sexual abuse scandals had ripped through the Catholic Church, shattering the silence that had for so long protected its secrets. It was easier for accusers in general to come forward, and easier for people to believe their stories, even if the stories sounded too awful to be true. Even if they had happened decades ago, when the accusers were only children. Even if the people they were accusing were pillars of the community. But for all these revelations — including this month’s Pennsylvania grand jury report on how the church hid the crimes of hundreds of priests — a darker history, the one to which Sally’s story belongs, remains all but unknown. It is the history of unrelenting physical and psychological abuse of captive children. Across thousands of miles, across decades, the abuse took eerily similar forms: People who grew up in orphanages said they were made to kneel or stand for hours, sometimes with their arms straight out, sometimes holding their boots or some other item. They were forced to eat their own vomit. They were dangled upside down out windows, over wells, or in laundry chutes. Children were locked in cabinets, in closets, in attics, sometimes for days, sometimes so long they were forgotten. They were told their relatives didn’t want them, or they were permanently separated from their siblings. They were sexually abused. They were mutilated.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o13yTTAeM30  https://www.bishop-accountability.org/news555/2018_08_27_Kenneally_We_Saw.htm

This survivor was denied compensation for her abuse.  The courts said she waited to long to come forward with her abuse.  No one has been prosecuted for their crimes.

Native American Communities and the Clerical Abuse Crisis  Archived recording of a conversation on 2/25/21, sponsored by Taking Responsibility: Jesuit Educational Institutions Confront the Causes and Legacy of the Clerical Abuse Crisis, https://www.fordham.edu/info/29908/ta...  . Contact us at takingresponsibility@fordham.edu.  

 Canadian Taxpayers Pay Settlement For Catholic Church Crimes Against Children!  A court ruling this year, ordering compensation to be paid, has been a source of tension between the government and indigenous activists Canada has pledged up to C$40bn ($31bn; £23.6bn) in compensation for indigenous children and families who suffered discrimination while in foster care. In September, a top court upheld a 2016 ruling that the government underfunded First Nations services compared with those for non-indigenous children. It ordered C$40,000 ($31,350; £23,340) payouts to each child who was in the on-reserve welfare system after 2006. The government initially said it would appeal the verdict. But it has come under intense public scrutiny after the discovery of over 1,100 unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools. The child graves behind Canada's national reckoning Why Canada is reforming indigenous foster care Until as recently as 1996, Canada's residential school system separated indigenous children from their families and sent them to boarding schools where many were malnourished, beaten and sexually abused. The school system was part of attempts to assimilate indigenous children - forcing them to abandon their native languages and convert to Christianity. Media caption,"No reconciliation without truth": A survivor recounts abuse in Canadian residential school The government's compensation amount, expected to be formally announced on Tuesday, will be used to settle the 2016 tribunal, two other lawsuits, and fund long-term reforms in the indigenous child welfare system, a source told public broadcaster CBC. "Money does not mean justice, however, it signals that we are on the healing path forward," said RoseAnne Archibald, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. "The magnitude of the proposed compensation package is a testament to how many of our children were ripped from their families and communities," she added. Some 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were housed in the schools, which operated between 1874 and 1996. 📷IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGESImage caption,First Nations community members gather for a vigil in Marieval after a discovery of unmarked graves The policy traumatised generations of indigenous children, who were forced to abandon their native languages, speak English or French and convert to Christianity. Christian churches were essential in the founding and operation of the schools. The Roman Catholic Church in particular was responsible for operating up to 70% of residential schools, according to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society. Earlier this year, the Vatican said Pope Francis had agreed to visit Canada to assist with reconciliation efforts. But a formal date has not been announced, and the Pope has not issued an official apology for the Church's role, despite repeated called by Canadians.   Zorrow | Facebook   https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59602955

 Texas boys ranch moves forward as more men discuss abuse
DALLAS — When Allan Votaw stepped onto Cal Farley's Boys Ranch in Texas in 1957, the 5-year-old hoped he and his two brothers — ages 3½ and 6 — had found a home. Instead, the now-66-year-old says, they found a "horror house" where sadistic staff members whipped children until they were bruised and bloody and children were molested by older kids."You lived in fear, you totally lived in fear," said Votaw, who said he still has nightmares from his 10 years on the sprawling ranch for at-risk youths outside of Amarillo.He railed against the ranch for years, feeling alone in his fight until reading a 2017 story in the British newspaper The Guardian that featured a handful of men — including childhood friends — describing abuse they suffered there as children.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-boys-ranch-moves-forward-as-more-men-discuss-abuse/287-36e1bc6d-4d1e-4fa3-9004-890c6061333a
 

 VATICAN CITY -- The Legion of Christ religious order is promising accountability and transparency following damaging new revelations of sex abuse and cover-up that have undermined its credibility, a decade after revelations of its pedophile founder disgraced the order.The Legion vowed to investigate the confirmed cases of past abuse by 33 priests and 71 seminarians. The Mexico-based order said it would reach out to the victims, publish the names of those found guilty of abuse in either a church or a state court, and punish superiors responsible for “gross negligence” in the handling of abuse accusations.The measures described in a statement late Wednesday were responding to a burgeoning new scandal involving the order. The Vatican took over the Legion 10 years ago following revelations that its late founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, raped his seminarians, fathered at least three children and built a secretive, cult-like order to hide his double life.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/legion-christ-vows-abuse-response-amid-scandal-69255587#:~:text=VATICAN%20CITY%20--%20The%20Legion%20of%20Christ%20religious,revelations%20of%20its%20pedophile%20founder%20disgraced%20the%20order. 

 Butler Co. Priest Repeatedly Molested Boys, Young Men Even After Going To Rehab

• Butler Co. Priest Repeatedly Molested Boys, Young Men Even After Going To Rehab

In 1990, a “professional assessment” determined that Terdine was a “low risk” for acting out sexually, and then-Bishop Donald Wuerl re-assigned him as a hospital Chaplin, but restricted him from working as a pastor.Then, a second review in 2003, found that he could continue to serve both as a Chaplin and also serve Mass, restoring that privilege. It something the diocese now says it regrets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpe6KPqo7iA 

 Caritas 'outraged' by child abuse scandal uncovered by CNN
(CNN)Caritas Internationalis, a network of Catholic charitable organizations, urged its regional branches on Thursday to vet their staff and volunteers. It comes after CNN published an investigation into Father Luk Delft, a convicted abuser, who was moved to the Central African Republic by his religious order to work in a key role at the charity.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/21/africa/caritas-internationalis-luk-delft-intl/index.html 

 UN suspends work with Catholic charity in CAR after CNN investigation into pedophile priest
New York (CNN)The United Nations has temporarily suspended its work with the Central African Republic branch of Caritas Internationalis after it emerged that the director of the Catholic charity there was a convicted pedophile. The decision by the UN comes a day after CNN reported that Father Luk Delft was appointed to a key role in Caritas despite a prior conviction for abusing children in Europe. He was only removed from his post after CNN revealed the new accusations against him to his superiors in the Salesians of Don Bosco, a religious order established specifically to protect children.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/22/africa/un-caritas-luk-delft-intl/index.html 

 Federal Prosecutors Fail to Ask Hard Questions:
While there have been a few major legal cases against congregations — the Jesuits in the northwest U.S. reached a $166 million settlement with more than 500 victims in 2011 — religious orders in general have largely “gotten a free pass,”

https://apnews.com/31aa17e9b0584c9bb1699f6c2bfbb7aeeir  

BALTIMORE (AP) — More than 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore sexually abused over 600 children and often escaped accountability, according to a long-awaited state report released Wednesday that revealed the scope of abuse spanning 80 years and accused church leaders of decades of coverups.

The report paints a damning picture of the archdiocese, which is the oldest Roman Catholic diocese in the country and spans much of Maryland. Some parishes, schools and congregations had more than one abuser at the same time — including St. Mark Parish in Catonsville, which had 11 abusers living and working there between 1964 and 2004. One deacon admitted to molesting over 100 children. Another priest was allowed to feign hepatitis treatment and make other excuses to avoid facing abuse allegations.

The Maryland Attorney General’s Office released the findings of their yearslong investigation during Holy Week — considered the most sacred time of year in Christianity ahead of Easter Sunday — and said the number of victims is likely far higher. The report was redacted to protect confidential grand jury materials, meaning the identities of some accused clergy were removed.

“The staggering pervasiveness of the abuse itself underscores the culpability of the Church hierarchy,” the report said. “The sheer number of abusers and victims, the depravity of the abusers’ conduct, and the frequency with which known abusers were given the opportunity to continue preying upon children are astonishing.”

Disclosure of the redacted findings marks a significant development in an ongoing legal battle over their release and adds to growing evidence from parishes across the country as numerous similar revelations have rocked the Catholic Church in recent years.

Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, in a statement posted online, apologized to the victims and said the report “details a reprehensible time in the history of this Archdiocese, a time that will not be covered up, ignored or forgotten.”

“It is difficult for most to imagine that such evil acts could have actually occurred,” Lori said. “For victim-survivors everywhere, they know the hard truth: These evil acts did occur.”

Also on Wednesday, the state legislature passed a bill to end a statute of limitations on abuse-related civil lawsuits, sending it to Gov. Wes Moore, who has said he supports it. The Baltimore archdiocese says it has paid more than $13.2 million for care and compensation for 301 abuse victims since the 1980s, including $6.8 million toward 105 voluntary settlements.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, who took office in January, said the investigation shows “pervasive, pernicious and persistent abuse.” State investigators began their work in 2019; they reviewed over 100,000 pages of documents dating back to the 1940s and interviewed hundreds of victims and witnesses.

ABUSE RECALLED AS A ‘LIFE SENTENCE’

Victims said the report was a long-overdue public reckoning with shameful accusations the church has been facing for decades.

Jean Hargadon Wehner said she was abused in Baltimore as a teen by A. Joseph Maskell, a priest who served as her Catholic high school’s counselor and chaplain. She said she reported her abuse to church officials in the early ’90s, when her memories of the trauma finally surfaced about two decades after she was repeatedly raped.

“I expected them to do the right thing in 1992,” she told reporters Wednesday. “I’m still angry.”

Maskell abused at least 39 victims, according to the report. He denied the allegations before his death in 2001 and was never criminally charged. The Associated Press typically doesn’t name victims of abuse, but Wehner has spoken publicly to draw attention to the issue.

Kurt Rupprecht, who also experienced abuse as a child, said he was in his late 40s when he pieced together his traumatic memories. He said the realization brought him some relief because it explained decades of self-destructive behavior and mental health challenges, but also left him overwhelmed with anger and disbelief.

Rupprecht said his abuser was assigned to the Diocese of Wilmington, which covers some counties on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

“We’re here to speak the truth and never stop,” he said after the news conference. “We deal with this every day. It is our life sentence.”

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, noted the report lists more names of abusers than have been released publicly by archdiocese officials. The organization called on the archbishop to explain the discrepancies.

Other investigations involving the Archdiocese of Washington and the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, which both include parts of Maryland, are ongoing.

ARCHDIOCESE TOOK STEPS TO PROTECT THE ACCUSED

The Baltimore report says church leaders were focused on keeping abuse hidden, not on protecting victims or stopping abuse. In some situations, victims ended up reporting abuse to priests who were abusive themselves. And when law enforcement did become aware of abuse allegations, police and prosecutors were often deferential and “uninterested in probing what church leaders knew and when,” according to the report.

The nearly 500-page document includes numerous instances of leaders taking steps to protect accused clergy, including allowing them to retire with financial support rather than be ousted, letting them remain in the ministry and failing to report alleged abuse to law enforcement.

In 1964, for instance, Father Laurence Brett admitted to sexually abusing a teenager at a Catholic university in Connecticut.

He was sent to New Mexico under the guise of hepatitis treatment and then to Sacramento, where another teenage boy reported being abused by Brett, the report said. He was later assigned to Baltimore, where he served as chaplain at a Catholic high school for boys and abused over 20 victims.

After several students accused him of abuse in 1973, Brett was allowed to resign, saying he had to care for a sick aunt. School officials didn’t report the abuse to authorities and dozens more victims later came forward. He never faced criminal charges and died in 2010.

The report largely focuses on the years before 2002, when an investigation by the Boston Globe into abuse and coverup in the Archdiocese of Boston led to an explosion of revelations nationwide. The nation’s Catholic bishops, for the first time, then agreed on reforms including a lifetime ban from ministry for any priest who commits even a single incident of abuse. While new national policies significantly improved the internal handling of reported abuse in the Baltimore archdiocese after 2002, significant flaws remained, according to the report.

Only one person has been indicted through the investigation: Neil Adleberg, 74, who was arrested last year and charged with rape and other counts. The case remains ongoing. Officials said he coached wrestling at a Catholic high school in the ’70s, then returned to the role for the 2014-2015 school year. The alleged abuse occurred in 2013 and 2014 but the victim was not a student of the school, officials said.

COURT TO CONSIDER RELEASING MORE NAMES IN THE FUTURE

Lawyers for the state asked a court for permission to release the report and a Baltimore Circuit Court judge ruled last month that a redacted version should be made public. The court ordered the removal the names and titles of 37 people accused of wrongdoing — whose names came out during confidential grand jury proceedings — but will consider releasing a more complete version in the future.

Lawmakers’ passage of a bill to end the state’s statute of limitations Wednesday came after similar proposals failed in recent years. Currently, victims of child sex abuse in Maryland can’t sue after they turn 38. The bill would eliminate the age limit and allow for retroactive lawsuits.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore has long faced scrutiny over its handling of abuse allegations.

In 2002, Cardinal William Keeler, who served as Baltimore archbishop for nearly two decades, released a list of 57 priests accused of sexual abuse, earning himself a reputation for transparency at a time when the nationwide scope of wrongdoing remained largely unexposed. That changed, however, when a Pennsylvania grand jury accused Keeler of covering up sexual abuse allegations while serving as bishop of Harrisburg in the 1980s.

 Report details 'staggering' church sex abuse in Maryland | AP News 

NEWSBy Shelia Poole, The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionMarch 24, 2023Victim advocates critical of report, say numbers are too low

A long-awaited investigation into sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Georgia detailed historical abuse by clergy, but the review did not uncover ongoing or active allegations of sexual abuse that could be criminally pursued.

The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia report said none of those priests could be prosecuted because they are either deceased, have already been prosecuted or the statute of limitations expired before the review was launched.

Most of the victims were boys but there were also girls.

The report details allegations against priests ,members of religious orders and others, who at some point worked in the archdiocese and diocese, and the resolution.

The Church in the United States placed little focus on victims and no uniform policies for protecting children were in place prior to 2002, according to the report. Then the U.S. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted the national “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

“When allegations of abuse occurred, the common response of the church was to provide therapy to the priests” usually by sending them to various facilities ” the report said.

The Church now requires all allegation of abuse of minors be reported to state welfare officials.

Roughly 70 priests, deacons and those with religious orders whose allegations were deemed credible were detailed in the report, all but 13 named.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr in 2019 asked the state’s Morrow-based Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council to launch the investigation.

The PAC conducted the independent third-party review of records, files, documents, and reports related to suspected child abuse cases in the possession of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Diocese of Savannah.

Both the Atlanta archdiocese and the Savannah diocese cooperated with investigators.

At least one of alleged abuses go back to then1940s with one victim only 4-years-old at the time of her abuse. The only time files could not be obtained was 2020 and 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, when church facilities were not accessible, according to the PAC.

The Most Rev. Gregory J. Hartmayer., archbishop of Atlanta, called abuse by priests, religious brothers or sisters, volunteers or employees of the Catholic Church is " unacceptable. It cannot and will not be tolerated. This archdiocese will not protect abusers and we will not allow them to have access to our communities.”

While the secular investigations generally produce the most evidence, “it’s apparent this report comes up way short,” said Mike McDonnell, a spokesman for SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests).

He said it was vary hard to believe “knowing how meticulous church officials are with documentation and the number of Catholics served in both boundaries, that there are not more documented cases of abuse.”

Atlanta Atty. Darren W. Penn, who is representing several sexual abuse survivors, was critical of the report, although he was glad the issue of clergy sexual abuse was made public.

The report has an air of ‘this is all in the past and let’s put it behind us now’ feel about it. What we should be doing is recognizing the clear failures of the Archdiocese and the Church in general and putting our effort into finding solutions that will prevent this type of conduct from ever happening again.”

The 2019 probe was announced by Carr just months after the Archdiocese of Atlanta, released the names of 15 priests, seminarians, and those under direct authority of a religious order who were “credibly” accused of the abuse of minors.

The list was last updated Sept. 28 and has grown to contain about 30 names. The list goes back to the establishment of the archdiocese in 1956 and is still available on the archdiocesan website.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah also has a list on its website that contains the names of 18 people.

It includes Wayland Brown, who served in the Savannah diocese from 1977 to 1998, was later convicted and sentenced to a 20 years in South Carolina on multiple counts of criminal sexual assault with a minor and died in 2019, according to the diocese.

ExploreRead the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta's list of "credibly accused" priests, seminarians and others

The sex abuse crisis has engulfed the Roman Catholic Church in the United States and globally for decades. Molestation by priests and others in the Church was the subject of a Boston Globe newspaper investigation in 2002 that found accused priests were often moved to other churches or placed on sick leave. The report told how those accused were rarely being held accountable.

Nationally and internationally, the scandals in various archdioceses and dioceses have tested the Church.

“The credibility of the bishops who teach on matters of morality is lessened and severely damaged by their inaction when they’ve had information about clergy who are abusers and they didn’t do anything to keep that from happening again and again,” said Sandra Yocum, a professor of faith and culture at the University of Dayton. “Its impact is going to be long-term.”

ExploreThird-party looks at abuse allegations in the Atlanta Archdiocese and the Savannah Diocese

Speaking to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Yocum said she recognizes that it’s the state’s duty to investigate such allegations because there could be crimes committed.

The denomination has nearly 62 million Catholics in the nation, according to the U.S. Religion Census,

Georgia is among several probes of abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church launched by government agencies in recent years.

ExploreDefrocked priest, Wayland Brown, dies at 76

Such probes means that there is going to be accountability that goes beyond the confines of the Church, said Yocum.

She added: “The U.S. Catholic Church will need to cooperate with state investigations for the foreseeable future,”

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta

92 parishes

9 missions

1.2 million Catholics

Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah

57 parishes

21 missions

80,000 Catholics

Nationally:

There are nearly 62 million Catholics in the U.S., much of the growth has been in the South.

*Source: 2022 Official Catholic Directory, Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah, U.S. Religion Census, which is conducted every 10 years by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies

How to report abuse:

Savannah: If you are a victim of abuse by clergy, an employee or a volunteer in the Diocese of Savannah, or if you know of anyone who has been a victim of such misconduct, please contact civil authorities and the Diocese Abuse Reporting Line at 1-888-357-5330.

Atlanta: If you know or suspect a case of sexual abuse, call the archdiocesan 24-hour Abuse Reporting Hotline at 1-888-437-0764. If allegation of abuse involves any member of the clergy, employee, or volunteer of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, you must contact the Office of the District Attorney and the Office of Child and Youth Protection in addition to DFCS within 24 hours, according to the website.

State of Georgia IS MIA for Twenty Years.  Study Released after Georgia Elections!

May 1, 2019

Catholic Diocese from Atlanta and Savannah are cooperating with the independent investigation 

 Georgia Attorney General Opens statewide Priest Abuse Investigation - YouTube 

  Lalaine Briones <LBriones@pacga.org>To:

• Dennis Horion

Cc:

• Bonnie Mansfield <bmansfield@pacga.org>

Tue 3/21/2023 12:40 PM

Mr. Horion,

As a courtesy, we wanted to inform on behalf of Mr. Cohen that the Archdiocese and Diocese report will be released later this week.

Lalaine A. Briones

Deputy Director

Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia

Address: 1590 Adamson Parkway, Fourth Floor, Morrow, Georgia 30260

Main Office: 770-282-6300

Direct: 770-282-6303

Email: lbriones@pacga.org

Website: www.pacga.org

Dec 30 (Reuters) - Lawmakers around the United States have tried to grant justice to victims of decades-old incidents of child sexual abuse by giving them extra time to file lawsuits. Now some of the defendants in these cases, including church and youth organizations, are finding a safe haven: America’s bankruptcy courts.

In New York, nearly 11,000 cases flooded state courts, many seeking to hold Catholic dioceses responsible for sexual abuse by clergy, after a 2019 law suspended statutes of limitations that would have otherwise barred many of the lawsuits. In response, four New York dioceses that collectively faced more than 500 sexual-abuse claims filed for bankruptcy. That halted the cases — and blocked those from anyone who might sue later — and forced the plaintiffs to negotiate a one-time settlement for all abuse claims in bankruptcy court.

The pattern has taken hold across the United States, a Reuters review of bankruptcies precipitated by mass child sexual-abuse litigation found.

Many of the defendants turning to bankruptcy court are nonprofit organizations. In court filings dating back to 2009, the Boy Scouts of America, a New York boys & girls club and 13 separate Catholic institutions each have cited state laws extending abuse victims’ right to sue as factors in their decisions to seek bankruptcy protection.

Such bankruptcies are “the counterpunch” to the state laws enabling more victims to seek justice and compensation through lawsuits, said Stephen Rubino, a lawyer who’s represented clergy abuse victims for more than 30 years.

In all, 23 states, two territories and Washington, D.C., have passed laws that suspend statutes of limitations for sexual-abuse victims who were previously prevented from suing over older cases. The suspensions typically last a year or more, allowing plaintiffs to file new lawsuits involving old abuse cases during that period. California, New York and several other states passed such laws in 2019.

Bankruptcy courts are undermining the impact of the statutes, some legal experts and victims’ advocates say. Judges overseeing these Chapter 11 filings set their own deadlines to file a sexual-abuse claim for compensation from the bankruptcy settlement.

Victims who miss the bankruptcy claims-filing deadline receive nothing or are forced to compete for limited funds set aside for unknown future claimants, the Reuters review of bankruptcies found.

“As we dramatically increase access to justice through statutes-of-limitations reform, we have more organizations going into bankruptcy because, frankly, bankruptcy law favors the organizations,” said Marci Hamilton, the founder of Child USA, a group that has advocated for laws expanding sexual-abuse victims’ rights to sue.

Child sexual-abuse victims often don’t come forward until much later in life, sometimes past the age of 50, according to several victims’ lawyers and studies on abuse disclosure. Some are not aware of bankruptcy proceedings that affect them until it is too late.

Bankruptcy claims-filing deadlines can force victims to come forward before they are ready, Hamilton said. And abuse claimants have limited leverage in Chapter 11 cases that halt their litigation and shield organizations such as dioceses, schools or youth organizations from current and future lawsuits, she said.

“The federal bankruptcy law is just defective when it comes to sexual-abuse victims,” Hamilton said. “Their voice is just stolen from them.”

Reuters identified settlements in 23 bankruptcies precipitated by child sexual-abuse scandals that halted current and future lawsuits and forced claimants to seek compensation from a trust. The cases involved the Boy Scouts, 21 Catholic organizations and USA Gymnastics. The youth gymnastics organization filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2018 amid a surge of lawsuits alleging abuse by convicted child sexual abuser Larry Nassar. (Now in prison, Nassar could not be reached for comment.)

The Boy Scouts and USA Gymnastics did not comment for this story.

The Boy Scouts and others have argued that their bankruptcy plans seek to pay claimants fairly and equitably, whereas civil litigation can result in some victims winning large jury verdicts and others receiving smaller judgments or nothing. USA Gymnastics has said it sought bankruptcy protection “to pave the way toward a settlement” with abuse survivors, who last year approved a plan paying them $380 million.

The organizations also often conduct extensive marketing campaigns to ensure that potential victims know they can seek compensation in the Chapter 11 cases, a review of the cases shows. The Boy Scouts, for instance, said on a website the group set up for restructuring that it launched a “comprehensive noticing campaign” in the media.

The Madison Square Boys & Girls Club in New York City referred Reuters to a bankruptcy-court declaration filed in June by its chief financial officer, Jeffrey Dold. Dold said the organization sought Chapter 11 protection after trying and failing to resolve about 140 pending claims of sexual abuse by club employees and volunteers between the 1940s and 1980s, all filed after the passage of New York’s claims-revival law. The club filed bankruptcy, Dold said, “to provide a forum to address those claims fairly and equitably.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had no comment on the new state laws or their impact nationwide on Catholic organizations facing sexual-abuse lawsuits. In a statement to Reuters, it said it defers to state and local catholic leadership organizations on state laws and bankruptcies. The conference noted the importance of “pastoral outreach” to abuse victims and said that local dioceses have victim assistance coordinators to “assist survivors and accompany them as they seek healing.”

The nonprofit organizations’ bankruptcies don’t protect the individual abusers themselves, whom victims can still sue. But they do grant lawsuit immunity to the entities that oversaw employees or volunteers accused of abuse.

Lawyers defending organizations targeted by sexual-abuse claims, along with some plaintiffs lawyers, say bankruptcy provides a fair way to compensate victims, many of whom want to avoid the ordeal of a lawsuit and a potential trial. Moreover, organizations and insurers paying the settlements won’t agree to any deal that doesn’t shield them from additional liability, said Susan Boswell, a retired lawyer who represented dioceses in bankruptcies from Arizona to Minnesota.

“If you can’t have finality,” she said, “then you are not ever going to be able to get one of these cases done.”

America’s federal bankruptcy courts play a critical role in justice and commerce by giving businesses overwhelmed by debt an orderly process to settle with creditors during a reorganization or liquidation. Those debts can include liability from lawsuits over deadly products, fraud, sexual abuse or other wrongdoing.

The power of U.S. bankruptcy courts to grant lawsuit immunity to organizations in bankruptcy, their leaders and affiliated entities has expanded over time. And so have the legal tactics of entities seeking Chapter 11 protection: Some corporations engulfed in scandals are now creating subsidiaries solely to absorb their lawsuit liability and declare bankruptcy.

Nonprofit organizations facing sexual-abuse lawsuits have pulled another page from the corporate bankruptcy playbook: In striking settlements, they typically seek “nondebtor releases” for their associated entities, such as religious schools and individual parishes. Such releases shield people and entities from lawsuits over issues taken up in bankruptcy settlements. By piggybacking on a nonprofit’s Chapter 11 filing, its affiliated organizations or leaders often get these liability shields without having to file for bankruptcy themselves.

Judges often appoint someone to advocate for the interests of potential victims who have not yet sued or made a claim in bankruptcy court. Known as future claims representatives, these appointees are often lawyers or financial professionals who are paid by the debtor and tasked with estimating the number of future claims and the funds needed to cover them. The reality, however, is that late filers often end up competing for smaller amounts than those who meet the deadline, according to court records reviewed by Reuters and attorneys involved in the proceedings. Unknown claimants become “numbers on a chart,” Rubino said.

A former Boy Scout, C, alleges a Scout leader abused him when he was a teenager. Reuters agreed to identify the former Scout, now 40, only by his first initial.

He sought compensation in the Boy Scouts bankruptcy in June, long after a deadline of November 16, 2020 for filing claims. C is now unlikely to recover much, if anything, from the $2.46 billion settlement the Boy Scouts reached with claimants alleging sexual abuse, his lawyer said. That’s because claimants who miss the deadline face a gauntlet of additional hurdles and conditions, according to C’s lawyer and a review of the Boy Scouts settlement terms.

The Boy Scouts bankruptcy reorganization plan, approved by a judge in September, halts all lawsuits against the Boy Scouts, local councils, churches and other organizations that chartered scouting activities.

The bankruptcy’s claims-filing rules take precedence over a recent law passed in California, where C says he was abused, that expanded sexual-abuse victims’ rights to sue. The bankruptcy proceedings generally trump state laws because bankruptcy courts are federal, and typically have the power to override state statutes and halt state lawsuits or court orders.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein reasoned in approving the Boy Scouts settlement that it was a better solution for victims than seeking compensation in trial courts.

Silverstein declined to comment for this story. In a July opinion approving aspects of the Scouts’ reorganization plan, she noted that insurance carriers, local Scouts councils and chartered organizations would not contribute to the settlement without receiving nondebtor releases from liability. She agreed with lawyers for the Boy Scouts and some claimants that the only alternative to a settlement was a “‘death trap’ of litigation with minimal recoveries in sight.”

“These boys–now men–seek and deserve compensation,” the judge wrote, for “abuse which has had a profound effect on their lives and for which no compensation will ever be enough.”

Beyond questions of fair compensation, C said the bankruptcy is preventing him from getting his day in court against the Boy Scouts to present what happened to him.

C grew up in an unstable home in northern California. His mother considered the Boy Scouts a safe environment for her son. For years after a Scout leader allegedly abused him and other boys, C struggled with acknowledging that what had happened to him was wrong, he told Reuters. He had trusted his Scout leader.

Within the past couple of years, he spoke at length with another former Scout about the leader’s behavior, he said. The emotional conversation prompted C to reflect on the damage in his own life stemming from the abuse. He said in an interview that his own struggles relating to others began to make more sense. C lives with his mother, sometimes sleeps in his car and has struggled to find a steady career.

“I’m waiting to stand in front of a judge,” C said, and hoping for that judge to say: “‘What happened to you was wrong.’”

‘THE PRIEST WOULD NEVER DO THAT’

Some plaintiffs’ attorneys say bankruptcy proceedings can provide a better way to compensate many sexual-abuse victims than trial courts. Victims often don’t want to go through the ordeal of suing their abusers or the organizations that may have enabled them, said Dan Lapinski, a Motley Rice LLC lawyer representing Boy Scouts claimants. For them, seeking compensation through bankruptcy can allow victims to file a claim confidentially and avoid reliving their trauma in open court.

“I have clients who fall into that category” in the Scouts matter, Lapinski said, noting that these victims might not have pursued their claim at all outside of bankruptcy court.

Financial coffers of individual dioceses are usually smaller than those of large corporations, said Boswell, the retired lawyer who has represented dioceses facing abuse allegations in bankruptcies. Expensive litigation cuts into the money available for compensation, she said, but a bankruptcy reorganization can attempt to pay all claimants equitably.

Still, there is often little left for claimants who come forward later, after bankruptcy filing deadlines pass.

In January 2020, a 59-year old former altar boy named Henry attended a church service in Minnesota on a visit back to the state to see family. After the service, Henry said, the priest spoke to parishioners about the financial impact of the 2018 bankruptcy of the local Winona-Rochester diocese, caused in part by sexual-abuse claims.

Henry knew the abuse first-hand. When he was 17, a priest assaulted Henry in a pool shower after swimming, he said in an interview. He had kept what happened to himself in part because he thought nobody would believe him, said Henry, who spoke on condition that he be identified only by his middle name.

Before clergy sexual-abuse scandals emerged worldwide, his community’s attitude was “the church would never do that, the priest would never do that,” he said. “You’re kind of squelched from the get-go.”

Finding out about the bankruptcy in church that day emboldened Henry to come forward, too, he said. Two days after the priest’s comments, he contacted a lawyer who filed a late claim on his behalf. But relatively little money — a maximum of $750,000 — had been set aside for claimants who came forward after a 2019 deadline. Henry received $20,000, which he described as “an almost laughable“ amount.

Henry could receive more money later, depending on how many additional claims are filed and how a trustee who determines payouts views his claim. But a final determination won’t be made until a deadline for filing late claims passes several years from now, according to documents Reuters reviewed. The judge in the case declined to comment.

By comparison, the settlement covering the 145 sexual-abuse claimants who filed on time was nearly $28 million. That would equate to about $190,000 per victim. The amount individual claimants might receive varies, depending on factors including the duration, severity and impact of their alleged abuse, according to court documents.

“What I don’t like is that they put some arbitrary cap on anybody who filed after” the deadline, Henry said.

Peter Martin, a spokesperson for the Winona-Rochester diocese, declined to comment on its bankruptcy proceedings. Martin did not respond to inquiries about Henry’s allegations of sexual abuse.

Statutes of limitations exist for good reason, some legal scholars say.

Historically, states enacted them to encourage plaintiffs to file timely lawsuits based on “reasonably fresh” evidence, said Marie T. Reilly, a professor at Penn State Law in University Park, Pennsylvania. Reilly argues that allowing victims to sue long after their alleged abuse threatens the integrity of the legal system in the name of exacting retribution against institutions such as Catholic dioceses.

Over time, memories deteriorate, witnesses die and documents can go missing, she said. “The ability to mount a defense deteriorates with the passage of time,” Reilly said.

New York State Senator Brad Hoylman, a Democrat, sponsored the state’s bipartisan legislation reviving child sexual-abuse claims. He told Reuters he pushed the bill because it can be especially difficult for individuals to come forward with allegations against abusers who are often “in positions of power and trust.”

For thousands of victims with revived legal rights to seek accountability from institutions in trial courts, bankruptcy filings can be crushing.

Doug Kennedy was a teenage Boy Scouts camp staffer in upstate New York when a camp director raped him repeatedly and forced him to engage in other sexual activity, according to a lawsuit he filed. His case was halted by the Boy Scouts bankruptcy. In the years after the assaults, he told Reuters, he buried his memories of the abuse.

The man Kennedy accused of abuse, Bruce DeSandre, declined to comment through his attorney. In a court filing, DeSandre denied Kennedy’s allegations of sexual abuse and argued that New York state’s revival law was unconstitutional.

When Kennedy, now a college professor, finally came to grips with his abuse, the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit had passed.

In January 2019, he retreated to his office at Virginia Wesleyan University, drew the shades and watched a streaming feed of the New York state legislature’s vote to change the law and allow victims like Kennedy to file lawsuits over abuse that occurred long ago.

“I broke down, completely broke down,” he said.

He thought he would finally get a chance to get accountability for what was allowed to happen to him. Later that year, in August, he filed his lawsuit against defendants including a Boy Scouts local council and DeSandre.

About six months later, the Boy Scouts filed for bankruptcy. Kennedy said his feeling of hope drained away when he heard the news.

“Bankruptcy is not justice,” he said. “Bankruptcy is business.”

Mar 2, 2023

Despite its expectations of holiness and celibacy, the Catholic Church has been the subject of a fair share of monastic scandal. Nearly all of these scandals, however, pale in comparison to the tales of coercion and wrongdoing that haunt the history of Maria Agnese Firrao's convent. 

 The Nuns of Sant’ Ambrogio: the True Story of a Convent in Scandal | Reviews in History 

 Attorneys to sue archdiocese over child sex abuse - YouTube  Attorneys to sue archdiocese over child sex abuse - YouTube 

600 Kids Were Sexually Abused by Baltimore’s Catholic Church Over 6 Decades

600 Kids Were Sexually Abused , by Baltimore’s Catholic Church Over 6 Decades. NBC News reports that on April 5, Attorney General Anthony Brown accused Catholic Church officials in the state of attempting to cover up years of sexual abuse. Brown contends that a minimum of 600 children were victims, and some were "preyed upon by multiple abusers over decades.". 600 children are known to have been abused by the 156 people included in this Report, but the number is likely far higher, Anthony Brown, Maryland Attorney General, via statement. Time and again, members of the Church’s hierarchy resolutely refused to acknowledge allegations of child sexual abuse for as long as possible, Anthony Brown, Maryland Attorney General, via statement. When denial became impossible, Church leadership would remove abusers from the parish or school, sometimes with promises that they would have no further contact with children. , Anthony Brown, Maryland Attorney General, via statement. When denial became impossible, Church leadership would remove abusers from the parish or school, sometimes with promises that they would have no further contact with children. , Anthony Brown, Maryland Attorney General, via statement. Church documents reveal with disturbing clarity that the Archdiocese was more concerned with avoiding scandal and negative publicity than it was with protecting children, Anthony Brown, Maryland Attorney General, via statement. Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori referred to the report as a "sad and painful reminder of the tremendous harm caused to innocent children and young people by some ministers of the Church.". The detailed accounts of abuse are shocking and soul searing. It is difficult for most to imagine that such evil acts could have actually occurred. , William E. Lori, Baltimore Archbishop, via statement. For victim-survivors everywhere, they know the hard truth: These evil acts did occur, William E. Lori, Baltimore Archbishop, via statement 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgAoLYfc7-E&ab_channel=NBCNews

 Crump: Abuse victims set to sue Baltimore Archdiocese | AP News 

BALTIMORE (AP) — After Maryland lawmakers recently eliminated the statute of limitations for child sex abuse lawsuits amid heightened scrutiny of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced plans Tuesday to bring a series of civil claims on behalf of victims.

The threat of litigation comes as the the archdiocese faces continued fallout from a state report released last month that found more than 150 priests and other clergy in the archdiocese sexually abused over 600 children with impunity. The report, which the Maryland Attorney General’s Office produced after a yearslong investigation, paints a damning picture of the nation’s oldest Catholic diocese.

Days after the report’s release, Gov. Wes Moore signed legislation to end Maryland’s statute of limitations for child sex abuse lawsuits effective Oct. 1. Previously, victims couldn’t sue after turning 38.

Crump, best known for representing victims of police brutality, held a news conference Tuesday outside the Baltimore Basilica with attorney Adam Slater, his partner on some earlier high-profile sex abuse cases. Several potential plaintiffs shared their stories of abuse; some overlapped with findings of the attorney general’s investigation while others presented new allegations.

“You cannot outrun the trauma that was inflicted, no matter how hard they tried,” Crump told reporters. “Many of them — for years, for decades — believed it was their fault.”

A spokesperson for the archdiocese didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Marc Floto, one of the potential plaintiffs, said the attorney general’s investigation inspired him to come forward and speak publicly about childhood abuse he said caused “so many problems” in his life.

“Still to this day, I have so much anger, so much hate,” he said, sobbing silently between sentences. “The church needs to be held accountable.”

Floto displayed a printed photo of himself — in suit and tie, his blonde hair neatly combed — from around the time he said the abuse occurred.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly.

“This little boy had his innocence stolen,” Crump said.

Floto said he wasn’t interviewed for the attorney general’s investigation but his abuser, Father James Dowdy, is named in the report.

Ordained in 1969, Dowdy served in several Maryland parishes before abuse allegations surfaced in 1991, according to the report. He denied the allegations, saying it was nothing more than horseplay with boys, and apparently he faced no consequences.

Two years later, another man reported Dowdy had sexually abused him in the 1970s and ’80s. Dowdy was then placed on leave and his ministerial faculties were removed, the report says. Church officials agreed to pay the victim’s counseling and medication costs while simultaneously bankrolling Dowdy’s therapy, health care and living expenses for years. His expenses cost the church well over $100,000, more than 10 times what the victim received, according to the report. During therapy, Dowdy disclosed many more instances of abuse. Finally, in 1977, his church employment was terminated.

The Baltimore archdiocese has already paid more than $13.2 million for care and compensation for 301 abuse victims since the 1980s, including $6.8 million toward 105 voluntary settlements.

But the recent law change, including a provision making it retroactive, could allow for a deluge of additional lawsuits.

The Maryland Catholic Conference, representing the three dioceses serving the state, opposed the measure, arguing the retroactive window was unconstitutional and citing potentially devastating impacts on the Baltimore archdiocese and other institutions. Anticipating a court challenge, lawmakers included language in the bill that would further delay lawsuits until the Supreme Court of Maryland can determine whether it’s constitutional.

Several other states have passed similar legislation in recent years, and in some cases, resulting lawsuits have driven dioceses into bankruptcy.

Also present at Tuesday’s news conference, former Maryland Sen. Tim Ferguson said he was 13 or 14 when a priest asked to take him fishing for the weekend. The guest bedroom was being renovated, the priest claimed, so they would have to share his bed.

Ferguson said he froze during the assault, then laid awake all night. He was afraid to report the abuse to his parents, worried what his father might do.

Joeing to the report.

Dozens more victims came forward after Smith’s death.

Taylor, who grew up in a devout Catholic family, said his own relatives didn’t believe him when he reported Smith’s abuse, believing priests to be infallible.

“Just a lifelong battle,” he said. “No amount of money can bring back 45 years of lost friends and family.” Taylor said his abuser, Father Thomas Smith, would take boys on beach trips and make them swim with him in “dark waters.”

Smith’s name appears multiple times in the attorney general’s report, which said he both perpetrated abuse and helped protect other abusers in congregations across the Baltimore area. He died by suicide in 1993, not long after a second victim accused him of assault and filed a lawsuit against the archdiocese. The claim was later dismissed because of the statute of limitations, but a judge found the archdiocese committed a possible dereliction of duties in its handling of abuse cases.

The lawsuit came five years after Smith admitted to church officials that he had abused multiple boys in the 1960s — a revelation that was brushed under the rug, according to the report. Shortly after learning of the abuse, then-Archbishop William Borders wrote Smith a letter praising his “many fine years of priesthood” and ordering him “not to engage in any form of youth work,” accord

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