Tag Archives: molestation

Bail Denied For FL Pastor Accused Of Child Sex Abuse, Police Say He Beat His Victims With Wooden Paddles

Jacksonville’s NBC News affiliate reports: A judge on Wednesday denied a request for bond for a Jacksonville pastor accused of abusing children for decades. Paul Dyal, 78, pastor of the Jacksonville Assembly of the Body of Christ on Old Kings Road, is charged with two counts of capital sexual battery on a child. The defense wanted him released on his …

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NJ Diocese To Pay $87M Clergy Sex Abuse Settlement

The Associated Press reports: A New Jersey Catholic diocese has agreed to pay $87.5 million to settle claims involving clergy sex abuse with some 300 alleged victims in one of the largest cash settlements involving the Catholic church in the United States. The agreement between the Diocese of Camden, which encompasses six counties in southern New Jersey on the outskirts …

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TX Youth Pastor Charged With Sexual Assault Of Child

The Dallas Morning News reports: A 32-year-old youth pastor was arrested on charges related to the sexual assault of a child, Mesquite police said Monday. Conner “Jesse” Penny, a Mesquite resident, was arrested April 5 after police received a report the day before regarding the sexual assault of a child. He faces one count each of continuous sexual abuse of …

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Pope Unveils Reforms On Handling Clerical Sex Abuse

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis released his long-awaited reform program of the Holy See bureaucracy on Saturday that envisages greater decision-making roles for the laity and gives new institutional weight to efforts to fight clerical sex abuse. The document was released Saturday, the ninth anniversary of Francis’ installation as pope and the feast of St. Joseph, an important figure …

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Cardinal Once Imprisoned For Molestation Calls On Vatican Officials To Reprimand Two Pro-LGBT Bishops

The National Catholic Register reports: Cardinal George Pell has called on the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to publicly reprimand two of Europe’s most senior bishops for what he said was their “wholesale and explicit rejection” of the Church’s teaching on sexual ethics. In a statement released March 15, Cardinal Pell asked the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation to …

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Florida Pastor And Two Church Officials Charged With Decades Of Child Sex Abuse After Raid During Services

First Coast News reports: Worship services were interrupted by a police raid Wednesday night at the Jacksonville Assembly of the Body of Christ on Old Kings Road. The raid was the result of a long-term investigation that started with a tip regarding possible sexual abuse in 2020. The investigation uncovered sexual and physical abuse of minors in the church that …

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German Cardinal Accused In Abuse Coverup Offers To Resign After His “Spiritual Timeout” Granted By Pope

The Associated Press reports: A prominent Roman Catholic archbishop who faced strong criticism for his handling of the church’s sexual abuse scandal in Germany said Wednesday that he has offered his resignation to Pope Francis following a “spiritual timeout” granted by the pontiff. Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the archbishop of Cologne, marked his return to work with a lengthy letter …

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Court Boots Duggar Sisters’ Privacy Suit Against Cops

Law & Crime reports: A 2017 federal lawsuit filed by four of the Duggar sisters against Arkansas law enforcement was dismissed on Wednesday, ending the sisters’ battle over the alleged improper sharing of official reports detailing their molestation by their brother, Josh Duggar. Jill Duggar Dillard, Jessa Duggar Seewald, Jinger Duggar Vuolo, and Joy Duggar Forsythe sued various city and …

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Ex-Pope Sorry For Mishandling Clergy Abuse Cases

The Associated Press reports: Retired Pope Benedict XVI asked forgiveness Tuesday for any “grievous faults” in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, but admitted to no personal or specific wrongdoing after an independent report criticized his actions in four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany. “I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church. All the greater …

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Missouri Book Ban Advocate Charged With Molestation

Kansas City’s ABC News affiliate reports: A Gladstone man, who recently spoke in support of banning books from North Kansas City School District libraries that depicted sexual acts, is facing a felony charge of second-degree child molestation and a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree domestic assault. Ryan Utterback, 29, is also facing a misdemeanor charge of furnishing pornographic material or attempting …

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Ex-Pope Benedict Accused Of Ignoring Abuse Reports

The BBC reports: Former Pope Benedict XVI failed to act over four child abuse cases when he was archbishop of Munich, a German probe into the Catholic Church has alleged. Pope Benedict, then called Josef Ratzinger, held the position from 1977 to 1982. He has denied the accusations. But a new report into historical abuse allegations carried out by a …

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Catholic Diocese Apologizes For Asking Court To Decide Whether Child Victim “Took Pleasure” In Rape By Priest

ABC News reports: A Catholic diocese in Poland apologized today for having asked a court to determine whether a man who was sexually abused as a child by a priest is gay, and whether the sexual contact may have consequently been pleasurable for him. Following wide criticism, the Bielsko-Zywiec diocese said that its letter to the court should not have …

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Indiana Baptist Pastor Gets 20 Years For Molesting Boys

The Christian Post reports: A former youth pastor in Indiana has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for molesting several boys aged 11 to 13 for several years. An Elkhart County judge sentenced the 46-year-old man, Scott Christner, formerly a youth group leader for First Baptist Church in Goshen, to three nine-year sentences for Level 4 felonies and 20 …

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Famed Russian Priest Imprisoned For Child Rapes

The BBC reports: A Russian court has jailed for 21 years a former Orthodox priest, said to have adopted 70 children, for a string of child abuse offences. Nikolai Stremsky was convicted of raping several children and other violent acts in his parish in the Urals in south-west Russia. Stremsky was reputed to have Russia’s largest family and was decorated …

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French Government Orders Catholic Priests To Report All Child Sexual Abuse Claims, Even If Heard In Confession

The Guardian reports: Catholic priests must report all child sexual abuse allegations to police, including if they hear about it in the secrecy of the confession box, the French interior minister has said after reprimanding France’s top bishop for claiming that the secrecy of the Catholic confessional was “above the laws of the Republic”. France is reeling from the publication …

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Cardinal Gets “Spiritual Time-Out” In Abuse Coverup

Euronews reports: The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne will take a “spiritual time-out” from his duties after committing grave errors in a crisis over clerical sexual abuse, but will retain his post, the Vatican said on Friday. Archbishop Rainer Maria Woelki, 65, had faced criticism for his handling of allegations of past child sex abuse, in particular for shelving a …

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Pope Urges Bishops To Listen To Molestation Victims

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis urged European bishops on Saturday to listen to survivors of clergy sexual abuse and consider them partners in reform, warning that their failure to do so risks the very future of the Catholic Church. Francis issued a video message to Central and Eastern European bishops who are gathering in Poland starting on Sunday for …

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Boston Archdiocese Finds Priest Guilty Of Child Sex Abuse, Assigns Him To A “Life Of Prayer And Penance”

The Associated Press reports: A Catholic priest that led parishes in Massachusetts has been found guilty of sexually abusing a child in the 1960s by a church panel and barred from public ministry, the Archdiocese of Boston said Friday. Paul J. McLaughlin, a former pastor of St. Peter Parish in Lowell and Immaculate Conception Parish in Marlboro, will not be …

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Ex-Cardinal Pleads Not Guilty To Molesting Teenager, Allegedly Told Boy To Pray For Forgiveness Afterwards

The Associated Press reports: Former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the once-powerful American prelate who was expelled from the priesthood for sexual abuse, pleaded not guilty Friday to sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy during a wedding reception in Massachusetts nearly 50 years ago. McCarrick, 91, wore a mask and entered suburban Boston’s Dedham District Court hunched over a walker. “Shame …

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9000 Suits Filed In NY’s Sex Abuse “Look-Back” Period

The Associated Press release: For two years, New York temporarily set aside its usual time limit on civil lawsuits in order to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue churches, hospitals, schools, camps, scout groups and other institutions and people they hold responsible for enabling pedophiles or turning a blind eye to wrongdoing. That window closes Saturday, after more …

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