Tag Archives: sexual abuse

The Washington Post reports: The Vatican on Friday announced sanctions against retired West Virginia Bishop Michael Bransfield, but stopped short of defrocking him, after investigating accusations of sexual harassment and financial misconduct. The sanctions, ordered by Pope Francis and detailed in a letter posted to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston’s website, prohibits Bransfield from public ministry and from residing in his …

The Associated Press reports: Singer R. Kelly, already facing sexual abuse charges brought by Illinois prosecutors, was arrested in Chicago Thursday on a federal grand jury indictment listing 13 counts including sex crimes and obstruction of justice. U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Joseph Fitzpatrick said the R&B singer was taken into custody about 7 p.m. local time and was being held …

Huntsville’s CBS News affiliate reports: The lead pastor of a Florence church has been arrested, accused of sexually abusing young boys in his congregation. John Martin was taken into custody Friday evening and booked into the Lauderdale County Detention Center on four counts of Sexual Abuse. Martin has been a pastor at Lighthouse Baptist Church on Sweetwater Avenue for nine …

The Christian Post reports: The Southern Baptist Convention overwhelmingly voted on Tuesday to expel churches accused of racial discrimination and mishandling cases of sexual abuse. On the opening day of the largest protestant denomination’s annual meeting, held June 11-12 in Birmingham, Alabama, messengers — the delegates selected from SBC member churches to attend the meeting — cast their votes in …

From a new survey by Pew Research: More than 15 years after U.S. bishops pledged “zero tolerance” for sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, reports of previously unpublicized misconduct continue to receive wide media coverage. A Pennsylvania grand jury last year uncovered decades of sexual abuse and coverup by Catholic leaders, and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick – formerly the archbishop …

The Bridgewater Courier News reports: A Presbyterian minister, who said he was following the Bible, used Native American exorcism rituals, gemstones and even oral sex to extract “evil spirits” from men undergoing crises in their lives, the church and men claim. The so-called healing acts, which date to 1999, were allegedly performed by the Rev. Dr. William Weaver, a prominent …

ABC News reports: The Mexico-based La Luz del Mundo church said Wednesday that its leader and “apostle” Naasón Joaquín García, who was arrested in California on charges of human trafficking and child rape, remains the spiritual leader of the group, which claims 5 million followers in 58 countries. It also strongly denied the charges. “We believe these accusations are defamation …

The Washington Post reports: In the years before he was ousted for alleged sexual harassment and financial abuses, the leader of the Catholic Church in West Virginia gave cash gifts totaling $350,000 to fellow clergymen, including young priests he is accused of mistreating and more than a dozen cardinals in the United States and at the Vatican, according to church …

The New York Times reports: The leader of La Luz del Mundo, a church headquartered in Mexico that claims to have more than one million followers worldwide, was charged Tuesday in Los Angeles with more than a dozen sex crimes, including allegations that he forced children to have sex and made them pose naked for photos, the authorities in California …

CBS News reports: The U.S. Catholic Church spent $10.6 million on lobbyists to prevent victims of clerical sex abuse from suing for damages. According to a new report, the money was doled out from 2011 through 2018 in eight northeastern states where bills to reform statute of limitations laws were either in the works or being considered. “This report lays …

The Associated Press reports: When Cardinal Daniel DiNardo first met Laura Pontikes in his wood-paneled conference room in December 2016, the leader of the U.S. Catholic Church’s response to its sex abuse scandal said all the right things. He praised her for coming forward to report that his deputy in the Galveston-Houston archdiocese had manipulated her into a sexual relationship …

Hemant Mehta writes at The Friendly Atheist: Another day, another Catholic leader saying something idiotic on Twitter, then doubling down on it. This time, it’s Father Kevin M. Cusick, a former Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy chaplain corps, telling women to cover up their bodies to avoid offending the delicate sensibilities of men. Those hussies. Next thing you know, …

NBC News reports: The Roman Catholic bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, said Sunday that he regretted the controversy he created by telling Catholics to boycott Pride Month events but that he couldn’t renounce church teachings. Bishop Thomas Tobin released a statement on Sunday saying he regretted “that my comments yesterday about Pride Month have turned out to be so controversial …

The Daily Beast reports: During her appearance on David Letterman’s show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Ellen DeGeneres shared that her stepfather sexually abused her as a teenager. DeGeneres said her mother married “a very bad man,” who would grope her and once tried to break into her room, leading her to climb out a window in order to …

USA Today reports: A tentative deal is close to settling lawsuits brought against the television and film company co-founded by Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by scores of women. The amount of the deal wasn’t revealed in court, but a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press it was worth $44 million. The person …

The Associated Press reports: A now-dead Ohio State team doctor sexually abused at least 177 male students over nearly two decades, and university officials knew what he was doing and did little to stop him, according to an investigative report released by the school Friday. Dr. Richard Strauss committed the abuse from 1979 to 1997 — nearly his entire time …

NBC News reports: The Archdiocese of New York on Friday named 120 Catholic clergy that it said had been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse or being in possession of pornography. About half of the men on the list were born in the first half of the 20th century and are now dead. The rest have either been removed from ministry …

The New York Daily News reports: Former Pope Benedict XVI blamed the widespread clerical abuse on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the “collapse” of theological and societal moral teachings — contradicting Pope Francis in his most extended statement since resigning more than six years ago. “Why did pedophilia reach such proportions?” he writes. “Ultimately, the reason is the …

NPR reports: Pope Francis issued a new decree making it mandatory for Vatican City officials or its diplomats around the globe to immediately report allegations of sexual abuse to authorities or face possible jail time. The edict, called a Motu Proprio and which goes into effect on June 1, comes after an international summit of church leaders convened at the …

The Guardian reports: Three Michael Jackson fan groups are suing his alleged victims in France for “sullying his memory” by taking part in the Leaving Neverland documentary, the fans’ lawyer told Agence France-Presse on Friday. The Michael Jackson Community – which claims to be the “official fan club forum” – and the MJ Street and On The Line groups accuse …