Cardinal George Pell will be testifying via video-link (from the Vatican or Rome) in about 10 minutes. He is due to testify at 4 pm Melbourne Australia time, which is 2 am Eastern Standard Time (the time here in Ontario, Canada)
Cardinal George Pell’s role in setting up a Catholic Church compensation scheme for victims of paedophile priests will be scrutinised at the child abuse royal commission.
He was Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 when the Melbourne archdiocese decided to respond to growing allegations of child sex abuse by its clergy.
The church considered creating a legal entity in 1996 that could be sued by victims, but designed the Melbourne Response compensation scheme instead.
Cardinal Pell told the royal commission earlier this year he believed the church should now create an entity that could be sued.
A Victorian parliamentary inquiry last year recommended the Catholic Church be incorporated so it could be sued.
Melbourne archdiocese lawyer Richard Leder said the church’s position had shifted due to a better understanding of the extent of clergy sexual abuse.
‘(It is) the sheer number of victims, but (also) a much greater understanding of the long term effects of abuse,’ Mr Leder told the commission on Wednesday.
Cardinal Pell, now working in the Vatican, will give evidence via video-link from Rome at 4pm (AEST) on Thursday.
AAP
Cardinal Pell to face royal commission
Updated: 12:55 pm, Thursday, 21 August 2014
Cardinal George Pell’s role in setting up a Catholic Church compensation scheme for victims of paedophile priests will be scrutinised at the child abuse royal commission.
He was Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 when the Melbourne archdiocese decided to respond to growing allegations of child sex abuse by its clergy.
The church considered creating a legal entity in 1996 that could be sued by victims, but designed the Melbourne Response compensation scheme instead.
Cardinal Pell told the royal commission earlier this year he believed the church should now create an entity that could be sued.
A Victorian parliamentary inquiry last year recommended the Catholic Church be incorporated so it could be sued.
Melbourne archdiocese lawyer Richard Leder said the church’s position had shifted due to a better understanding of the extent of clergy sexual abuse.
‘(It is) the sheer number of victims, but (also) a much greater understanding of the long term effects of abuse,’ Mr Leder told the commission on Wednesday.
Cardinal Pell, now working in the Vatican, will give evidence via video-link from Rome at 4pm (AEST) on Thursday.
AAP
- See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2014/08/21/cardinal-pell-to-face-royal-commission.html#sthash.pru5MbMq.dpuf
Cardinal Pell to face royal commission
Updated: 12:55 pm, Thursday, 21 August 2014
Cardinal George Pell’s role in setting up a Catholic Church compensation scheme for victims of paedophile priests will be scrutinised at the child abuse royal commission.
He was Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 when the Melbourne archdiocese decided to respond to growing allegations of child sex abuse by its clergy.
The church considered creating a legal entity in 1996 that could be sued by victims, but designed the Melbourne Response compensation scheme instead.
Cardinal Pell told the royal commission earlier this year he believed the church should now create an entity that could be sued.
A Victorian parliamentary inquiry last year recommended the Catholic Church be incorporated so it could be sued.
Melbourne archdiocese lawyer Richard Leder said the church’s position had shifted due to a better understanding of the extent of clergy sexual abuse.
‘(It is) the sheer number of victims, but (also) a much greater understanding of the long term effects of abuse,’ Mr Leder told the commission on Wednesday.
Cardinal Pell, now working in the Vatican, will give evidence via video-link from Rome at 4pm (AEST) on Thursday.
AAP
- See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2014/08/21/cardinal-pell-to-face-royal-commission.html#sthash.pru5MbMq.dpuf
Posted: Thursday, August 21, 2014 6:30 pm | Updated: 6:50 pm, Thu Aug 21, 2014.
By David Levinsky Staff writer
A Diocese of Trenton priest who formerly served a year at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Moorestown was arrested Thursday on charges that he sexually assaulted a teenage boy in Trenton, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said.
The Rev. Roman Nilo S. Apura, 67, is accused of masturbating the victim in a home in Trenton in late spring or early summer this year. A second incident occurred in June when Apura attempted to remove the same victim’s pants, the Prosecutor’s Office said.
Apura was arrested at 11 a.m. at his residence at St. Martha Parish in Point Pleasant, Ocean County, where he has served as pastor since July 2012. He was charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, one count of third-degree aggravated sexual contact, and one count of fourth-degree attempt to commit criminal sexual contact and placed in the Mercer County Correction Center in Hopewell on $100,000 bail.
As conditions of his bail, Superior Court Judge Pedro J. Jimenez Jr. ordered Apura to surrender his passport and have no contact with the victim or any other children.
Prosecutors said detectives from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Victims Unit launched an investigation earlier this week after the Diocese of Trenton reported the allegations.
In a statement, the diocese said it learned of the allegation Monday and immediately contacted the Prosecutor’s Office. No other complaints have been received about Apura, the diocese said.
Prior to St. Martha, Apura served in the parishes of St. Joachim in Trenton, St. Agnes in Atlantic Highlands, St. Maximilian Kolbe in Toms River, Our Lady of Good Counsel in Moorestown, St. Ann in Keansburg, and St. Mary of the Assumption in Trenton.
Apura served at Our Lady of Good Counsel from 2004 to 2005, according to the diocese.
Bishop David M. O’Connell suspended Apura pending the outcome of the criminal investigation and recommendations from the Diocesan Review Board. The suspension prohibits him from celebrating Mass publicly, wearing priestly garb or presenting himself as a priest.
The diocese said it would continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and called on anyone with information about the case or Apura to call the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office or the Diocese of Trenton’s abuse hotline at 888-296-2965.
“Sexual abuse committed by anyone representing the Church is a sin against God and his people, and a betrayal of the trust placed in the Church by families,” the diocese said. “We reiterate our firm commitment to the safeguards and initiatives in place to keep our children safe, and we ask the faithful throughout the diocese to pray for all who may have been harmed in this case.”
Photo: Cardinal George Pell compared the Catholic Church to a trucking company during his testimony.(AAP: Paul Miller)
Support groups for child sexual abuse victims have expressed their outrage after Cardinal George Pell’s testimony at the royal commission in Melbourne last night.
Saying it would not be appropriate for legal culpability to be “foisted” on church leaders, he drew an analogy between the Catholic Church and a trucking company, citing a hypothetical example of a case involving a woman who was molested by a truck driver.
“It would not be appropriate, because it’s contrary to the policy, for the ownership, leadership of that company to be held responsible,” Cardinal Pell said.
“Similarly with the church and the head of any other organisation.
“If every precaution has been taken, no warning has been given, it is, I think, not appropriate for legal culpability to be foisted on the authority figure.
“If in fact the authority figure has been remiss through bad preparation [or] bad procedures or been warned and done nothing or [done something] insufficient, then certainly the church official would be responsible.”
Truck analogy ‘outrageous’, ‘appalling’ and ‘offensive’
Dr Cathy Kezelman from Adults Surviving Child Abuse said the “outrageous” and “appalling” analogy could do a lot of damage.
“The victims are already in this process of being repeatedly traumatised. To have their experiences denied yet again … drives a knife into the wound and twists it yet again,” she said.
Nicky Davis from the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests was in the audience of the royal commission during Cardinal Pell’s comments.
She said the truck analogy left the audience “open mouthed in shock”.
“We were literally saying to each other, ‘Did he really just say that?’,” she said.
“He shows that he really has absolutely no conception of what is appropriate or inappropriate behaviour and what are appropriate or inappropriate things to say to survivors.
It was a highly offensive comparison and showed that, at the end of the day, all he was concerned with was protecting himself and making excuses for behaviour that is inexcusable.
Nicky Davis
“It was a highly offensive comparison and showed that, at the end of the day, all he was concerned with was protecting himself and making excuses for behaviour that is inexcusable.”
Ms Davis said Cardinal Pell was trying to avoid liability by referring to the sovereignty of the Vatican.
“He’s basically saying ‘no, we’re a foreign state … you can’t hold us accountable’,” she said.
“If this foreign state is committing so many crimes on Australian soil against Australia’s most vulnerable citizens, why are we putting them in charge of providing social services to vulnerable people?”
The Australian Trucking Association said Cardinal Pell had insulted every truck driver in Australia.
“There are more than 170,000 professional truck drivers in Australia,” the chair of the association, Noelene Watson, said in a statement. “They have families and children. Cardinal Pell’s analogy is a deep insult to every one of them.”
Pell ‘never anticipated’ church abuse complaint numbers
In his testimony to the commission, Cardinal Pell said he was surprised by the number of complaints made in the lead-up to the introduction of the Melbourne Response to abuse within the Catholic Church.
The inquiry has been examining the Catholic Church’s Melbourne Response, which Cardinal Pell established when he was Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996.
Under the scheme, independent commissioners were appointed to investigate claims, a free counselling and support service known as Carelink was created, as well as a panel to provide ex-gratia compensation payments.
There was evidence something needed to be done to deal with this suffering.
Cardinal George Pell
Once victims went to police they were no longer eligible for compensation.
“We never anticipated the volume of responses that would go on for years,” Cardinal Pell said.
“I was aware there were dozens of complaints.”
Cardinal Pell said he was aware of reports in newspapers that were “brought home to me very clearly”.
“There was evidence something needed to be done to deal with this suffering,” he said.
The commission has been considering a series of “systemic issues” including the independence of the compensation scheme, the criteria for determining compensation amounts and the independence of the process.
___________________________________
Cardinal George Pell insults truck drivers over remarks at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
news.com.au
August 22, 20141:43PM
Offensive… the Australian Trucking Association says Cardinal George Pell’s remarks were offensive to truck drivers. Picture: supplied.Source: Supplied
TRUCK drivers around the country are up in arms over Cardinal George Pell’s comments at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
The Chair of the Australian Trucking Association, Noelene Watson, said Cardinal Pell had publicly insulted every truck driver in Australia.
Mrs Watson was responding to Cardinal Pell’s comments at the Commission where he stated that the Catholic Church was no more responsible for priests who abuse children than a trucking company would be if they employed a driver who molested women.
NOT CO-OPERATING: Vatican refuses to release files of Australian paedophile priests
“There are more than 170,000 professional truck drivers in Australia. They have families and children. Cardinal Pell’s analogy is a deep insult to every one of them,” Mrs Watson said.
“These comments are a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the Royal Commission being faced by the Catholic Church and other institutions that deal with children.
“Cardinal Pell must realise that he cannot solve these problems by insulting Australia’s hardworking truck drivers, who deliver the goods we use every day.”
Adults Surviving Child Abuse president, Dr Cathy Kezelman, said Cardinal Pell’s comments were not helpful to victims of abuse.
“His comments were outrageous,” she told AAP on Friday.
Commission continues…Cardinal George Pell appears via video link from the Vatican in the Commission into child abuse. Picture: SuppliedSource: Supplied
He showed a lack of compassion, and “continues to duck and weave” she said.
“To have their (victims’) experiences denied yet again drives a knife into the wound and twists it,” she said.
During his video links Cardinal Pell accepted the church has a moral obligation to victims, but in terms of its legal responsibility the actions of its priests are not necessarily its fault.
Cardinal Pell did say if the church had been warned about a priest or had bad policies or procedures in place, “then certainly the church official would be responsible”.
Anthony Foster, the father of two girls raped by notorious abuser Father Kevin O’Donnell, said the comparison was clearly wrong.
“The analogy was just ludicrous,” he said.
Mr Foster said it “was unbelievable to watch this prince of the Catholic church making these ridiculous statements.”
“Yesterday was extremely tough for us,” he told ABC Radio on Friday.
“They knew that this perpetrator had assaulted other people back in 1958, that was admitted by the church lawyer yesterday.
“All the way through, they have fought tooth and nail, telling us they knew nothing, well, yesterday the truth came out.”
Mr Foster and his wife, Christine, won a $750,000 settlement from the Melbourne archdiocese after two of their daughters Emma and Kate were raped by a pedophile priest. Emma later took her own life.
Mr Foster repeated his claim that Cardinal Pell showed a “sociopathic lack of empathy” when they met to discuss the case in the 1990s.
In his statement to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Cardinal Pell said he had not tried to insult the Fosters.
“I am sorry for anything I did to upset them at this meeting,” he said.
_____________________________________
The Vatican refuses to release files of Australian priests accused of abusing children
news.com.au
16 hours agoAugust 22, 20149:45AM
THE Vatican has refused to hand over the files of Australian priests accused of sex crimes to the child abuse royal commission.
Claiming the internal documents were the property of the Holy See, the Vatican argued the commission’s request was “neither possible nor appropriate”.
Cardinal George Pell appears via video link from the Vatican in the Commission into child abuseSource: Supplied
Reasons included ongoing church investigations, and that internal working documents were the sovereign property of the Holy See.
Cardinal George Pell, now working in Rome, was asked if he sought an assurance from the Vatican that any document the royal commission needed would be provided.
“That is correct,” Cardinal Pell told the commission via video-link today.
“I suppose in retrospect there would be some discussion over what ‘any document’ meant.” Cardinal Pell said specific requests about cases would be more likely to succeed than what he described as an “ambit claim” for large numbers of documents.
A letter from the royal commission to the Vatican said it needed access to documents if it was to fulfil its terms of references. “It is essential that the royal commission understand the nature and extent of the communications between those congregations and the Holy See in relation to child sexual abuse complaints about Australian clerics,” the letter said.
Cardinal Pell said the Vatican had provided 5000 pages of documents in relation to specific requests.
“But in following international convention they will not provide internal working documents of another sovereign state,” he said. Cardinal Pell said he thought the royal commission’s request for documents relating to each case was “unreasonable”.
“Overwhelmingly every document that is held in Rome exists here … I am not aware of exceptions — overwhelmingly they are available in Australia,” he said.
A letter from the Vatican’s Secretariat of State said finding every file on accused Australian priests would be a substantial burden, “inconsistent with international practice”.
“The Catholic Church is no more legally responsible for priests who abuse children than a trucking company which employs a driver who molests women,” a defiant Cardinal Pell said.
The Vatican refuses to answer the plea … Vlad Selakovic with the Care Leavers Australia Network protest outside the Royal Commission into institutional child sex abuse.Source: Supplied
Victims’ families were outraged at his comments, branding it as “a ludicrous comparison.”
Even the chair of the child abuse royal commission thinks the situation is quite different when it comes to a priest getting access to a child.
Cardinal Pell accepts the church has a moral obligation to victims, but when it comes to its legal responsibility, the actions of its priests are not necessarily its fault.
“If the truck driver picks up some lady and then molests her, I don’t think it’s appropriate, because it is contrary to the policy, for the ownership, the leadership of that company to be held responsible,” Cardinal Pell told the commission via video link from Rome on Thursday.
But Cardinal Pell said if the church had been warned about a priest or had bad policies or procedures in place, “then certainly the church official would be responsible”.
Anthony Foster, the father of two girls raped by a paedophile priest, said the comparison was clearly wrong.
“The truck driver analogy was just absurd, ludicrous, and it was nowhere near a proper analogy to the Catholic Church,” Mr Foster told reporters.
Commission chair Justice Peter McClellan said priests got access to children with the parents’ consent, unlike truck drivers. “The relationship between the priest and a child is quite different to that between the truck driver and the casual passenger, isn’t it?” he asked Cardinal Pell.
“Yes, I would certainly concede that,” Cardinal Pell responded. Cardinal Pell said the Melbourne archdiocese strove to meet its moral obligations to abuse victims by setting up the Melbourne Response in 1996, the first comprehensive scheme in Australia to deal with clergy abuse allegations which included determining compensation payments.
“We did not admit that there was a legal obligation but that, in practice, in the compensation panel we fully accepted our moral responsibility towards those who had suffered,” he said.
OTTAWA -A man who claims a local priest sexually abused him is suing the Archdiocese of Ottawa and other local Catholic bodies for $200,000.
The complainant, who QMI Agency has chosen not to name, said that as a young boy in the late 1970s he lived with his mother near the church that was then known as Eglise Ste-Famille in 1978.
The man alleges the priest abused him and his friend through acts of sexual touching and oral sex.
“The priest used his relationship of clerical authority and trust to convince and force the plaintiff to engage in these sexual acts,” the statement of claim alleges.
“He did not permit them to leave the premises during the assaults.
“He threatened the plaintiff with exposure as a liar should he tell anyone about the abuse, stating that nobody would believe him.”
After several months, the man moved away, but with daily flashbacks he alleges his life “deteriorated” into substance abuse, crime and prison.
He told no one, not even his family, fearing shame.
But he recently learned his friend had received an apology from the church and had “successfully resolved his issues.”
“Based on this (the complainant) has become aware that he might do something to address the pain and shame that he has suffered for so many years,” the statement says.
The archdiocese declined to comment.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
_____________________________
Catholic priest preyed on young boy: Lawsuit
Ottawa Sun
First posted: Thursday, August 21, 2014 06:07 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, August 21, 2014 06:11 PM EDT
By Tony Spears, Ottawa Sun
The Catholic church on Glenora Ave. was a house of pain for a man who claims a local priest preyed on him in the late 1970s.
That man — whom the Sun will not name as he is allegedly the victim of sexual abuse — is suing the Archdiocese of Ottawa and other local Catholic bodies for $200,000.
As a young boy, the complainant said he lived with his mother near what was then known as Eglise Ste-Famille in 1978.
In the man’s statement of claim the priest allegedly abused the complainant and his friend through acts of sexual touching and oral sex.
“The Priest used his relationship of clerical authority and trust to convince and force the Plaintiff to engage in these sexual acts,” the statement of claim alleges.
“He did not permit them to leave the premises during the assaults.”
“He threatened the Plaintiff with exposure as a liar should he tell anyone about the abuse, stating that nobody would believe him.”
After several months the man moved away but with daily flashbacks he alleges his life “deteriorated” into substance abuse, crime and prison.
He told no one, not even his family, fearing shame.
But he recently learned his friend had received an apology from the church and had “successfully resolved his issues.”
“Based on this (the complainant) has become aware that he might do something to address the pain and shame that he has suffered for so many years,” the statement says.
The archdiocese declined to comment.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
PEACE RIVER, Alta. — A Catholic priest in northwestern Alberta who is accused of sexually assaulting a minor has been told he cannot travel outside Canada to attend a funeral because he is considered a flight risk.
The order was issued following a preliminary hearing Thursday in Peace River for Abraham Azhakathu, who is facing charges of sexual assault and sexual interference.
The 59-year-old man’s brother died in India earlier this year, but a request by the accused to participate in a memorial service was rejected by both the Crown prosecutor and provincial court Judge C. K. Thietke (TEE’-kah).
The priest, who remains free under strict conditions, will return to court Sept. 5 in Peace River to set a trial date.
RCMP have said the alleged assaults occurred in 2013 and were reported to police by the minor.
Azhakathu was practising in the Manning area at the time. (CKYL)
Following a preliminary inquiry in Peace River, an arraignment date has been set for a Catholic priest from Manning, charged with sexual offences involving a minor.
Father Abraham Azhakathu, faces one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference. He appeared in court in Peace River on Thursday, Aug. 21 to determine if there was enough evidence to proceed to trial.
His accuser was also present to give evidence.
Judge C.K. Thietke ruled that there was enough evidence to go to trial and an arraignment date was set for Sept. 5.
Since his arrest in March, Azhakathu has been on recognizance, he has been required to remain in Alberta but outside of Manning. The courts had required him to surrender his passport.
Azhakathu is not a Canadian citizen. He had been on loan to the St. James the Major parish, which covers northwestern Alberta, since 2009. He is a member of the Missionary Society of St. Thomas the Apostle based in Kerala State, India.
After the arraignment date had been set, defense counsel Robert Marceau, asked the judge to return Azhakathu’s passport and allow him to return to his home in India. Marceau said that Azhakathu’s brother had died in June and asked that the judge to grant his client permission to visit his family.
Judge Thietke denied the request, he said because Azhakathu was not a Canadian citizen, allowing him to have his passport would make him a flight risk. The judge said that because of public interest in the case and the seriousness of the charges they must take all precautions to ensure Azhakathu remains in Alberta to stand trial.
Azhakathu was arrested in Manning on March 8 after a youth came forward alleging sexual assault. He was released on March 9 after a Judicial Interim Release hearing. His release included strict conditions not to be alone with anyone under the age of 16.
During an earlier appearance the judge ordered a publication ban prohibiting any information that may identify the complainant.
Manning is located about 100 km north of Peace River.
Last updated: Saturday, August 23, 2014, 1:07 AM
Posted: Friday, August 22, 2014, 5:17 PM
David O’Reilly, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Mercer County (N.J.) Prosecutor’s Office announced the arrest Thursday of a Roman Catholic priest on charges that he sexually abused a 16-year-old boy this year.
Authorities said they had charged the Rev. Romannilo “Nilo” Apura, a pastor at St. Martha’s parish in Point Pleasant, with endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated criminal sexual contact, and attempt to commit criminal sexual contact.
Apura, 67, is accused of having sexual contact with the boy in late spring or early summer at a Trenton home, prosecutors said. In a separate incident in June, he allegedly tried to remove the boy’s pants.
He had previously served at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Moorestown, St. Joachim in Trenton, St. Agnes in Atlantic Highlands, St. Maximilian Kolbe in Toms River, St. Ann in Keansburg, and St. Mary of the Assumption in Trenton.
The Diocese of Trenton said it had learned of the abuse allegations only Monday, and that the alleged acts had “no connection to St. Martha parish,” where Apura had been pastor since July 2012.
Rayanne Barnett, diocesan spokeswoman, said Bishop David M. O’Connell had turned the investigation over to civil authorities and that Apura – a Philippine native who was admitted to the diocese in 2000 – was suspended from active ministry pending its outcome.
He is being held at the Mercer County Correction Center on $100,000 bail and was ordered to surrender his passport. During his suspension, he may not wear clerical garb or publicly administer sacraments, or present himself as a priest.
Barnett said that no other complaints had been reported against Apura, and that it had no other priests currently under investigation for sexual impropriety.
The diocese’s swift and public removal of Apura comports with mandatory protocols that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops established 11 years ago for all dioceses dealing with clergy sex-abuse charges.
Those guidelines, called norms, also stipulated that dioceses cease their previous practice of conducting their own secret investigations of clergy sex abuse, and turn each case over to civil authorities.
The bishops’ conference established the norms in the wake of devastating reports of widespread clergy sex abuse and cover-up in the Archdiocese of Boston and elsewhere.
Anyone with information relevant to the Apura case is asked to call the prosecutor’s office at 609-989-6568 or the Diocese of Trenton abuse hotline at 1-888-296-2965.
San Juan, Puerto Rico - A suspended Catholic priest pleaded guilty Thursday to transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual conduct. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) conducted the investigation that led to the arrest and subsequent guilty plea of the suspended priest.
HSI special agents arrested Israel Berrios-Berrios May 13 at his residence in Naranjito following an indictment that charged him with transporting a minor with the intent to engage in sexual activity. According to the government’s version of facts, Berrios-Berrios transported a 15-year-old male minor to Miami, Florida, where together they took a four-day cruise to the Bahamas. While on the cruise, Berrios-Berrios engaged in lewd acts with the minor.
“The arrest and guilty plea of this man are especially disturbing given the position of trust he occupied,” said Angel M. Melendez, special agent in charge of HSI San Juan. “Identifying people who violate their positions of public trust by contributing to the exploitation of children is a top priority for HSI. Anyone who targets children for sexual exploitation should also consider themselves a target by HSI and by our law enforcement partners regardless of who they are. We have an obligation to protect those most vulnerable in our society who cannot protect themselves.”
In June 2011, the Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force (PRCACTF) was created by HSI San Juan to respond to the need for an island-wide approach to fighting the escalating number of predatory crimes against children. The task force is a partnership between HSI San Juan and members of local, state and federal law enforcement, as well as local and state government officials and community leaders.
Through PRCACTF, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies work together with local and state government agencies to effectively pool their resources to jointly investigate all crimes against children in Puerto Rico. Through the task force, law enforcement officers are encouraged to share evidence, ideas, and investigative and forensic tools to ensure the most successful prosecutions possible. As such, PRCACTF allows law enforcement to speak with a unified voice in defense of the children of Puerto Rico.
The task force and its investigations are part of HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.
For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.
HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.
22 Aug 2014 – 12:41 PM UPDATED 22 Aug 2014 - 6:08 PM
The man in charge of the Catholic Church’s payouts to Melbourne victims of pedophile priests says the majority of them are happy with the process.
Most victims of pedophile priests are happy with the Catholic Church’s Melbourne compensation process, the man in charge of the payouts says.
But David Curtain QC says capped payments to victims cannot compensate for the harm done to them.
Critics of the Melbourne archdiocese’s scheme for handling abuse complaints say it is overly legalistic and re-traumatises victims.
Attention is focused on those who weren’t happy with the Melbourne Response but many victims got a lot out of it, said Mr Curtain, the compensation panel chair.
“There are many people who are very happy with the system and express their gratitude for us doing our jobs,” Mr Curtain told the child abuse royal commission on Friday.
“We try to treat them with respect and we try to explain the system and many of them say, even during the hearing, how much they appreciate that.”
Mr Curtain said many of the victims among the 326 upheld abuse claims which went to the panel would not have won damages if they were common law legal cases.
He said victims were very interested in counselling, while some wanted an apology and others didn’t.
“Many of them express no interest in the money at all,” he said.
Mr Curtain said he pushed to get the capped payouts increased from $55,000 to $75,000 in 2008.
“I readily agree the cap does not reflect full compensation,” Mr Curtain said.
He said the payouts – originally set at $50,000 when the scheme was set up in 1996 to handle abuse complaints in the Melbourne archdiocese – intended to mirror the upper limits of compensation payments to victims of crime.
“I thought that the victims of crime compensation had moved upwards and I suggested to the church that they do that as well,” he said.
Victims have criticised church investigators for discouraging them from going to police about their abuse but Jeffery Gleeson QC, an independent commissioner with the Melbourne Response since 2012, said he urged every victim to contact police.
“I will tell them I urge them to do it but if they don’t want to do it, I’m not going to force them,” Mr Gleeson said.
Victims’ groups also labelled comments from Cardinal George Pell to the commission comparing the Catholic Church with a trucking company as outrageous.
Cardinal Pell accepts the church has a moral obligation to victims but when it comes to its legal responsibility the actions of its priests are not necessarily its fault, he argued.
He told the commission: “If the truck driver picks up some lady and then molests her, I don’t think it’s appropriate, because it is contrary to the policy, for the ownership, the leadership of that company to be held responsible.”
Anthony Foster, the father of two girls raped by notorious abuser Father Kevin O’Donnell, said the comparison was clearly wrong.
“The very fact is that if the trucking company had known the driver was going to do that, they could have been sued at law. The Catholic Church cannot be sued at law,” Mr Foster told reporters.
OFFENDER: Defrocked Catholic priest John Denham is being sentenced after pleading guilty to 25 child sex charges.
A HUNTER man wept in a courtroom on Friday as he asked the questions that expose the tragedy of child sexual abuse.
“What could I have been? What would my life have been like?” asked the man known as ST, as defrocked Catholic priest John Denham, 72, sat metres away in a glass-enclosed dock.
ST told a sentencing hearing at the Sydney Downing Centre court that he struggled with suicide every day because those questions could never be answered.
“I hate life. I look forward to the day I die,” he said in a statement read to Judge Helen Syme by his legal representative, Nicola Ellis.
ST was Denham’s student at St Pius X High School, Adamstown, in the 1970s.
Denham is being sentenced after pleading guilty in August last year to 25 child sex charges including buggery, violent oral sex and indecent assault involving 18 boys, aged 11, 12 and 13, at Singleton, Wingham and St Pius X in the 1970s. He accepted another 23 indecent assault charges had occurred.
It is the third round of sentencing in 14 years for Denham, after he was convicted in 2010 of crimes against 39 boys aged 5-16 and sentenced to remain in jail until at least 2022.
He was first sentenced in 2000 for child sex crimes against a 14-year-old, and received a two-year suspended sentence.
The suicide of one of Denham’s victims, Belmont North man John Pirona, was the catalyst for the Newcastle Herald campaign for a royal commission into child sexual abuse.
In court on Friday, Judge Syme, who described Denham as a sadistic priest when she sentenced him in 2010, helped another Hunter victim, known as PM, read his statement to the court after he sobbed to a halt.
PM described how he arrived at St Pius X as a small and vulnerable child, whose parents and a stepfather died before he was 10.
“I believe the Catholic school system should have protected me from my abuser,” PM said. “The Catholic Church should have investigated, but what it did was protect the abuser.”
In brief evidence, Denham told the court St Pius X school principal, the late priest Tom Brennan, never spoke to him about allegations from students and others that Denham was a sexual offender.
Father Brennan died in 2012 after he was charged with concealing Denham’s crimes, and sexually assaulting a child. Father Brennan was convicted in 2009 of making a false statement to police in which he said he knew nothing about Denham’s offences.
Judge Syme will sentence John Denham at a later date.
AAPFormer Catholic priest David Edwin Rapson will face fresh trials on child sex charges next year.
Former Victorian priest David Edwin Rapson has been granted a six-month delay before facing new trials on child sex charges after his convictions were quashed.
Rapson, 61, was jailed for 13 years in 2013 for rape and sexual assault offences involving eight boys at two Victorian Catholic colleges between the 1970s and 1990.
But he was released on bail earlier this month after the Victorian Court of Appeal quashed his convictions.
The convictions were set aside after the Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) conceded the charges should not have been dealt with in the one trial.
Rapson’s barrister Shaun Ginsbourg told a brief hearing in Victorian County Court on Thursday that there should be a delay of at least six months from the convictions being quashed to his new trials.
Judge Gavan Meredith granted the request, setting the trials down for February 23 and extending Rapson’s bail.
Prosecutors want Rapson to face three trials on the charges, but his defence has argued there should be separate trials for each of the eight victims.
The trial judge will determine how Rapson’s charges will be broken up and the number of trials he will subsequently face.
Victorian County Court Judge Liz Gaynor in October 2013 jailed Rapson for 13 years after he was found guilty of five charges of rape and eight counts of indecent assault against eight boys.
He was sentenced to a non-parole period of 10 years.
The OPP was obliged to change its stance on the number of trials Rapson should face after a Court of Appeal finding clarified the law.
THE Vatican has asked the Catholic archdiocese of Sydney to review an investigation conducted under previous archbishop Cardinal George Pell, which criticised the credibility of two alleged victims of church child sex abuse.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is also investigating the matter, following the publication of the resulting church decree in The Australian this year.
This decree, provided to the alleged victims in January, provides a powerful and controversial insight into the secretive canon law processes used by the Catholic Church to respond to claims of child sex abuse.
After more than a decade of lobbying by one of the alleged victims, the Vatican’s powerful Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith authorised Cardinal Pell “to conduct an administrative penal process” into the case. Cardinal Pell personally appointed three senior Australian clerics to undertake the investigation and forwarded the resulting decree back to the congregation.
The decree itself states that its authors “decided not to see themselves as judges charged with determining the guilt or otherwise” of the priest alleged to have committed the abuse.
“What is being tested is the reliability, the credibility of those making the complaints,” the decree states. It describes one alleged victim as “an exaggerator” with “a detailed dossier of these ‘remembered’ events clogging his computer’’. A previous decision by the church to pay this alleged victim financial compensation was done “for actuarial reasons and to appear pastorally concerned”, the decree said.
In April, following the revelation of the document’s contents in The Australian, the royal commission wrote to the Vatican requesting “copies of any documents regarding” the priest concerned.
Last month, in a letter subsequently tendered to the royal commission, the Vatican replied, saying the priest “is presently the subject of a canonical process which (has) been returned to ecclesiastical authorities in Australia for further review’’.
“To avoid compromising the integrity of the canonical proceeding, it is not possible to provide all the requested documentation relating to the case at this time,” the letter states, although some documents were provided to the commission.
The review of the church’s previous investigation is being undertaken by the Sydney archdiocese’s acting administrator, Bishop Peter Comensoli. Cardinal Pell left his position as archbishop earlier this year to take up a senior Vatican position with responsibility for the finances of the church.
At the centre of the new investigation are allegations that two former pupils of St Stanislaus College in Bathurst, NSW, were sexually abused by a priest during the 1970s, including inside a confessional.
In 1994, one of the alleged victims received a $43,000 settlement from the Vincentian Catholic order, although it did not accept liability for the alleged abuse and a subsequent criminal prosecution of the priest did not result in a conviction. The priest in question continues to live with the Vincentians in Sydney.
Giving evidence by video to the royal commission from Rome last week, Cardinal Pell was questioned about the Vatican’s decision to refuse the commission’s request for every available document relating to this, and other, cases of alleged abuse.
The Vatican had, to date, provided “5000 pages of documentation in relation to specific requests” and would respond to other such requests in future, Cardinal Pell said. It had refused to provide “internal working documents” and those relating to “cases which are still going forward, if there are any, in Rome’’.
The archdiocese of Sydney said it was unable to comment as the matter was before the royal commission. Neither of the alleged victims were able to comment.
Archbishop Denis Hart is testifying at the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse right now (12:17 am EST) Monday, 25 August 2014. Hart has been Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne since 2001. His predecessor was Cardinal Pell.
I know little about Archbishop Hart aside the fact he has not endeared himself to the Australian masses in the past, at one point for telling a woman “Go to Hell, bitch” for knocking on his door in the middle of the night.
The former principal of St. Patrick’s Elementary is scheduled to go to trial this month on charges of molesting an eighth-grade student while watching a movie at the administrator’s apartment.
Donald Andrews, 39, was fired in late March after Spokane’s Catholic Diocese heard he improperly touched the boy, then 13 years old. Andrews had been principal for three years.
He pleaded innocent to the charge of second-degree child molestation, said his lawyer, Mark Vovos.
Although the trial has been scheduled for June 26, that date will probably be pushed back to the fall, Vovos said. He declined to comment further. Efforts to reach Andrews Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Police asked prosecutors to charge Andrews after the boy’s family complained he improperly touched the boy the weekend of Feb. 19.
That day, the boy and a friend spent the night at Andrews’ house, according to court records. The friend played computer games. The boy and Andrews watched “The Mask” in the living room. While watching the movie, Andrews allegedly put his arm around the boy’s shoulder and a little later, fondled the boy.
The boy then ran to the bathroom, shutting the door, according to records. Andrews repeatedly apologized.
The boy told police that he didn’t tell anyone about the night because Andrews was always nice to him. The boy said Andrews gave him candy during school, lent him a St. Patrick’s sweatshirt, and took him to eat, play games and work out.
Another student told police he also spent the night at Andrews’ apartment. The boy said Andrews wanted to sleep on the floor in the same bedroom, although the apartment had two bedrooms.
The boy also told police that Andrews talked to him about masturbation.
While at St. Patrick’s, Andrews taught literature to seventh- and eighth-graders chosen by him. He studied from 1984 to 1987 at Gonzaga University and earned two master’s degrees. He returned to Gonzaga in 1990 to work on a doctorate in education, during which time he was hired by St. Patrick’s.
Diocese officials reacted quickly to the concerns of the boy’s family, first suspending Andrews from his job and then firing him.
“The Diocesan level is to be very up-front and honest,” said the Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish. “Then you can move on to healing. That’s a big part of healing, is being honest.”
Since the firing, the school has worked to recover from the matter.
Counselors from Gonzaga Prep have talked to students and parents. The school has held three meetings with parents, answering questions and informing them about what happened.
The school’s 166 students are coping well, administrators said.
“One thing about most children, in a situation such as this, it’s just a matter of being able to speak their feelings and thoughts and having someone listen,” said Weitensteiner, also executive director of Morning Star Boy’s Ranch. “Kids are marvelous. They just move on to new things. They don’t forget, but they move on. The school has moved on.”
Joanne Duffy, an assistant principal at St. Aloysius School for three years, will start as St. Patrick’s principal in the fall.
Duffy, who started teaching in 1972, taught for 12 years in New York. She also was a social studies department chair and a vice principal at Stamford Catholic High School in Stamford, Conn.
Duffy moved to Spokane in 1990.
Since being hired, Duffy has met with a number of concerned parents and attended several meetings.
“The children seem to be doing fine,” Duffy said. “I’ve spoken with many of them. They seem to be excited about next year. The healing process is really coming along.”
, DataTimes
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Former Principal Sentenced To Jail Term
From Staff Reports
The Spokesman-Review
15 April 1997
A former Spokane Catholic school principal accused of molesting a student was sentenced Monday to 90 days in jail.
Donald Andrews, 41, can serve the sentence on work-release, a judge decided.
Rather than face a second molestation trial, Andrews pleaded guilty last month to third-degree assault involving a former student at St. Patrick’s Elementary School.
The student, then 13, told his parents that Andrews fondled him in 1995, when he and a friend spent the night at the principal’s home.
Andrews was fired shortly after the parents reported the incident.
Last year, a Superior Court jury deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of acquitting the defendant on the molestation charge.
Andrews now works as a car salesman in downtown Spokane. His employment stability is one reason prosecutors agreed to work-release.
The defendant was also fined $5,000. , DataTimes
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Parents Sue Spokane Diocese, Ex-School Principal Damages Asked For Trauma From Alleged Sexual Abuse
A Spokane couple filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Spokane’s Catholic Diocese and a former school principal whom they accuse of sexually molesting their son.
Mary Lee Gaston and Leon Gaston of Spokane say they want damages to be awarded at trial for traumas associated with the alleged abuse.
Their suit names the diocese, the former principal, Donald R. Andrews, and St. Patrick’s School.
The boy was a 13-year-old student at the Catholic elementary school in 1995 when he reported to his parents that Andrews had sexually touched him while he was visiting the principal’s home and watching a video.
The 40-year-old Andrews was charged with child molestation. He went on trial last year, but the jury was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquittal.
Prosecutors planned to retry him until Andrews signed a plea agreement accepting a felony conviction for third-degree assault. He will be sentenced next month.
“This is a complete surprise to me,” the Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish, said of the lawsuit.
The Gastons allege that Andrews abused his role as principal during the time he knew their son.
They also say the diocese and St. Patrick’s Parish “knew or should have known of the sexual molestation and failed to intervene or stop the activity.”
“That’s not true,” Weitensteiner said. “As soon as we got word, (Andrews) was suspended. We didn’t know about the molestation before they came to us.”
Andrews continues to live in the Spokane area but was unavailable for comment.
“This is sad for all of us,” Weitensteiner said.
Spokane Bishop William S. Skylstad announced Andrews’ firing the day after meeting with more than 100 St. Patrick’s parents in March 1995.
He also offered monetary support and agreed to pay for counseling of any parents needing help, Weitensteiner said.
, DataTimes
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Former Principal Pleads Guilty To Assault On Boy Onetime St. Patrick’s Administrator Says He Was Horsing Around With Boy
Seeking to avoid a second trial on sex crime charges, the former principal of St. Patrick’s Elementary School in north Spokane pleaded guilty Monday to third-degree assault.
Donald R. Andrews Jr., 40, was fired by the Catholic Diocese and the school two years ago after the parents of a 13-year-old student said the principal molested their son while he was visiting Andrews’ house.
Andrews denied the charge during a jury trial last year, insisting his relationship with the boy was like any principal-student friendship.
His plea statement entered Monday said: “I acted in a criminally negligent way and caused harm to (the youth) while wrestling and horsing around. It is my desire to bring closure to this matter.”
Andrews’ trial last year on a charge of child molestation ended in a hung jury. Eleven of 12 jurors voted to acquit him.
County Prosecutor Jim Sweetser decided to retry Andrews, a move Andrews’ attorney, Mark Vovos, called “unheard of, considering the previous jury outcome.”
Jury selection was to have started this week in Spokane County Superior Court.
Andrews will be sentenced April 14. The standard range for a person with no prior criminal record is from one to three months in jail for third-degree assault.
“We knew another trial would have been hard on us,” said the father of the boy who said he was assaulted. “We’re glad we don’t have to go through that stress again.”
A felony conviction usually causes a teacher to lose or have his teaching certificate suspended, said Rick Wilson, staff attorney with the state office of the superintendent of instruction.
Any action by the SPI office would occur after a review of the case, Wilson said.
Andrews was the principal and an English teacher at the school for three years before the incident.
Police investigators said Andrews had two students from St. Patrick’s spend the night at his house in February 1995.
One of the boys told police they were watching a movie when Andrews put his arm around the boy’s shoulder and then fondled him.
The student ran to a bathroom and stayed there while Andrews apologized for his action, the investigation report said.
The 13-year-old told his parents of the incident about a month later.
“This is the appropriate solution to this charge,” Deputy Prosecutor Mary Ann Brady said. “The victim’s and his family’s wishes certainly had some bearing on this decision.”
, DataTimes
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Man Acquitted Of Raping Prostitutes Prosecutor Calls Verdict, Reached In 6 Hours,’Very Disillusioning’
The Spokesman-Review
04 September 1998
Tom SowaA Spokane County jury had to choose between believing four prostitutes or the 32-year-old man accused of raping them a year ago in a city park.After less than six hours of deliberations, the six-man, six-woman jury Tuesday acquitted Charles Clugston of the crimes.Clugston, at the time an unemployed electrical engineer with a college degree, admitted having sex with three of the women. He said he paid for their services, then fell victim to a scheme by the women, who stole nearly $500 from him.Prosecutors said Clugston used the same method in attacking the women the night of March 27, 1995.He picked them up at different times, drove them to Liberty Park, raped three and tried to rape the fourth but failed, according to Deputy Prosecutor Carol Davis.
Davis told the jury he paid no money and injured all four women. Clugston weighed nearly 300 pounds when the incidents occurred, police reports said.
Defense attorney Mark Vovos said the case against Clugston was far-fetched and filled with inconsistencies.
“They had real credibility problems because of the stories (the alleged victims) told the jury,” Vovos said.
Davis said the verdict “was very disillusioning.” After talking with jurors later, she said they told her they thought Clugston had committed the crimes.
“But they thought we had not presented enough evidence to get them to convict,” she said.
She declined to speculate what evidence was needed beyond what jurors saw and heard. “All I know is we had everything we thought we needed.”
Vovos said the charges against Clugston were part of a pattern of misplaced priorities by police and county prosecutors.
“They always charge cases like this, cases with the emotion of a sex charge, thinking that will affect jurors. But that’s not the way it is,” Vovos said.
Vovos said he saw the same problem occur earlier this year in the trial of a former principal at St. Patrick’s Catholic School.
Vovos defended the principal, 40-year-old Donald Andrews, who was charged with second-degree child molestation.
Davis was the prosecutor in that trial, which ended in a hung jury.
Clugston is now employed as an engineer at Trumark Industries in Spokane. His trial before Superior Court Judge Michael Donohue lasted about two weeks.
, DataTimes
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Jury Can’t Decide Fate Of Ex-Principal
From Staff And Wire Reports
13 July 1996
A judge declared a mistrial Friday in the case of a former Catholic school principal accused of molesting a student.
Superior Court Judge Paul Bastine dismissed the charges against Donald Andrews, 40, after the 12-member jury couldn’t come to a unanimous decision.
The former principal of St. Patrick’s Elementary School, was accused of fondling a 13-year-old boy while the pair watched a movie at Andrews’ apartment in February 1995.
He was charged with one count of second-degree child molestation.
There was only one vote for conviction, according to Mark Vovos, Andrews’ attorney. The 11 other jurors voted to acquit, Vovos said.
County Prosecutor Jim Sweetser said he and Davis would decide soon if they will re-try Andrews, who was fired from his job shortly after the molestation allegations surfaced.
, DataTimes
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St. Patrick’s School Turns To The Future
The Spokesman-Review
24 August 1995
Jonathan Martin Staff Writer
When St. Patrick’s School begins classes Monday, Principal Joanne Duffy will have plenty to think about other than Donald Andrews.
Like 133 names.
To heal any lingering wounds caused by her successor, Duffy is trying learn the name of every one of the school’s 133 students.
“It is a lot (of names), but I was a teacher, so you learn little tricks,” said Duffy.
Andrews was fired last spring after a 13-year-old student accused the principal of fondling him. Another student told police that Andrews discussed masturbation with him.
Andrews is scheduled to stand trial on Oct. 28.
Duffy, a vice principal at Spokane’s St. Aloysius School for three years, plans to spend time in each classroom and eat with students every day.
She says regaining trust that may have been lost with Andrews’ dismissal is crucial to her success as a principal.
Duffy was hired in April and started full time at St. Patrick’s in June. She spent time in the school during summer, meeting with families and students. Duffy says she, the teachers and the students are trying to put the incident out of mind and focus on the new year.
“The community is really looking toward a new year, to a new beginning,” said Duffy.
The Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish, said counseling sessions held before school let out in June helped students.
“Kids are very resilient. If they get an opportunity to speak … how they honestly feel and think, there is healing in a hurry,” said Weitensteiner.
Andrews, who had been principal at St. Patrick’s for five years, pleaded innocent last spring to second-degree child molestation.
He is working in Spokane and preparing for the trial, said Mark Vovos, his lawyer.
, DataTimes MEMO: Open House St. Patrick’s School, 2706 E. Queen, will be holding an open house today from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Open House St. Patrick’s School, 2706 E. Queen, will be holding an open house today from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
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Diocese Fires St. Patrick’s Principal Bishop Says Student Alleged He Was Touched Improperly
Spokane’s Catholic Diocese this week fired the principal of St. Patrick’s Elementary School after getting reports the man improperly touched an eighth-grade male student.
The action was announced late Thursday at a meeting between 150 parents and school and diocese officials.
Donald Andrews, 37, was in his third year as principal at the North Side school.
Bishop William S. Skylstad said the decision to fire Andrews resulted from “accompanying circumstances” he and other diocese officials learned recently.
“We discovered some accompanying behavior that was very unprofessional and led us to see that termination was a must,” Skylstad said Friday.
He would not reveal details.
The unnamed student told his parents of one alleged instance of Andrews touching him in a sexual manner, Skylstad said.
The Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish, learned of the alleged contact last week and then met with students and teachers at the school
Weitensteiner fired Andrews on Tuesday.
The diocese arranged Thursday’s meeting at the school to explain what was being done and to help provide counseling help for those affected.
Said Sklystad: “Word was starting to get around and rumors were spreading. It was important for us to be upfront about this.”
In a prepared statement read Friday, Sklystad added: “We apologize to the alleged victim, the family and to the entire community for any hurt which may be the result.”
Police investigators are preparing a report on the incident. A decision on whether criminal charges might be filed would be made later.
No other students have reported incidents involving Andrews, Skylstad said.
Efforts to contact Andrews were unsuccessful.
A diocesan spokesman said Andrews was hired as principal at St. Patrick’s in 1992 from outside the area.
The diocese requested the standard Washington State Patrol background check at the time he was hired. That screening found nothing, Sklystad said.
Several incidents involving teachers or school staff have taken place in Spokane’s Catholic schools over the past 20 years. But in all those previous instances, the diocese has dealt with the issue quietly.
Skylstad said the change in approach comes from recognizing the diocese’s responsibility to make information public quickly to insure that proper steps are taken “to address this situation.”
I have been told but have not yet confirmed that Father Rene Labelle was found dead in his apartment yesterday. Does anyone have any further information?
****
Father Bernard Buckle had a courtdate in Stephenville, Newfoundland yesterday *Monday, 25 August 2014. I will follow up on that today. Please keep the complainant in your prayers.
Father Rene Labelle is dead. I have confirmation from several reliable sources that the priest was found dead in his apartment yesterday. There is talk but no confirmation that his death was by suicide. I have heard that an autopsy was being conducted.
Father Labelle was convicted in January of this year for sexually abusing a young boy. He was sentenced to 16 months in jail.
Labelle filed an appeal. Pending the appeal he was out on bail. As of 16 August August all the requisite paperwork had not yet been filed with the court.
At some point Father Labelle violated his bail conditions and was facing two new charges of breach of bail. He had a courtdate at 09:00 am this Thursday, 28 August 2014, on the breach charges.
And now he’s dead.
The appeal has not been dealt with. The breach has not been dealt with. His victim is left in Never Never Land with the conviction of his molester under appeal.
All I can say is that I hope and pray that IF his death was by suicide he left a suicide note, and that in that note he had the decency to acknowledge that he sexually abused that boy, and that apologized to his victim and the victims family for the denials and the appeal and dragging it on and on and on. I hope and pray too that he acknowledged that he sexually abused more than one unfortunate young lad. There were other victims.
Please pray for all the victims of Father Labelle.
As you may well know, some victims berate themselves when their molester commits suicide, so please please assure the victim who came forward that Labelle’s suicide is not his, the victim’s, fault. Keep that young man and his family in your prayers.
I’m sorry, but I don’t know what “status” means. Can anyone help?
Please keep the complainant in your prayers.
*****
This evening (Tuesday) or tomorrow I will be adding yet another name to the growing list of sexual molesters who taught or worked at St. Mary’s International School.
A ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST FOUND GUILTY OF SEX RELATED CHARGES EARLIER THIS YEAR IS DEAD
A ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST FOUND GUILTY OF SEX RELATED CHARGES EARLIER THIS YEAR IS DEAD.
FATHER RENE LABELLE’S BODY WAS DISCOVERED IN A WEST END APARTMENT LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON.
AS NEWSWATCH’S MORGANNE CAMPBELL REPORTS LABELLE WAS FREE ON BAIL, WAITING FOR AN APPEAL.
It was here in an apartment building on Norwest Road where Father Rene Labelle’s lifeless body was discovered Monday. Police don’t suspect foul play and it’s been suggested the Priest took his own life.
A sad day for those at the Archdioceses in KIngston. In a prepared statement the organization said,
“We are saddened to learn that Father Rene Labelle was found dead in his Kingston apartment.”
The church stated Labelle was 65 years old and had been priest of the Archdiocese of Kingston for 36 years.
Adding.
“We ask for your prayers for him and for his family.”
In January, Labelle was convicted on three sex related charges. It was revealed during trial the Priest sexually abused a teenage boy in his church residence on Wolfe Island back in the mid 2000′s. The boy, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, testified that Labelle fondled him and made him touch him inappropriately. Labelle was sentenced to 16 months in provincial prison and 30 months probation.
He wasn’t in custody long, his lawyer filed an appeal and the 65 year old was released from custody on bail.
Labelle’s lawyer says he doesn’t know the official cause of death, declining to comment further.
“Obviously, I have a point of view but this is a situation where “No further comment” would seem to me to be the best course to follow presently.”
“As for Labelle’s appeal, his lawyer John Ecclestone explained through email that an application for abandonment will need to be filed with the Ontario Court of Appeal. What that does is essentially terminates the appeal.
A ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST FOUND GUILTY OF SEX RELATED CHARGES EARLIER THIS YEAR IS DEAD
A ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST FOUND GUILTY OF SEX RELATED CHARGES EARLIER THIS YEAR IS DEAD.
FATHER RENE LABELLE’S BODY WAS DISCOVERED IN A WEST END APARTMENT LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON.
AS NEWSWATCH’S MORGANNE CAMPBELL REPORTS LABELLE WAS FREE ON BAIL, WAITING FOR AN APPEAL.
It was here in an apartment building on Norwest Road where Father Rene Labelle’s lifeless body was discovered Monday. Police don’t suspect foul play and it’s been suggested the Priest took his own life.
A sad day for those at the Archdioceses in KIngston. In a prepared statement the organization said,
“We are saddened to learn that Father Rene Labelle was found dead in his Kingston apartment.”
The church stated Labelle was 65 years old and had been priest of the Archdiocese of Kingston for 36 years.
Adding.
“We ask for your prayers for him and for his family.”
In January, Labelle was convicted on three sex related charges. It was revealed during trial the Priest sexually abused a teenage boy in his church residence on Wolfe Island back in the mid 2000′s. The boy, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, testified that Labelle fondled him and made him touch him inappropriately. Labelle was sentenced to 16 months in provincial prison and 30 months probation.
He wasn’t in custody long, his lawyer filed an appeal and the 65 year old was released from custody on bail.
Labelle’s lawyer says he doesn’t know the official cause of death, declining to comment further.
“Obviously, I have a point of view but this is a situation where “No further comment” would seem to me to be the best course to follow presently.”
“As for Labelle’s appeal, his lawyer John Ecclestone explained through email that an application for abandonment will need to be filed with the Ontario Court of Appeal. What that does is essentially terminates the appeal.
on August 26, 2014 at 10:33 AM, updated August 26, 2014 at 11:07 AM
By Douglass Dowty | ddowty@syracuse.com
Robert Ours
Syracuse, NY — A retired Syracuse priest pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography today in a deal that spared him prison time.
Robert Ours, 65, admitted to six counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child in a deal with County Court Judge Joseph Fahey.
The judge promised to sentence Ours to 10 years of probation. Ours will also become a registered sex offender.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Cali said he wanted Ours to spend 1 to 3 years in prison.
But by pleading guilty to all six counts, Ours avoided dealing with the DA’s office and worked out the deal with Fahey directly.
Robert Ours leaves County Court in Syracuse.Douglass Dowty | ddowty@syracuse.com
Ours admitted possessing six illegal images in August 2013. The victims were under 16 years old.
The Syracuse Catholic Diocese reported the allegations of child porn to the DA’s office in early 2014, diocese Director of Communications Danielle Cummings has said. The diocese has fully cooperated in the investigation, the DA’s office confirmed.
Ours led churches in the Southern Tier before retiring in 2012, Cummings said. He has since lived at the Tommy Coyne Residence for Priests, at 714 E. Brighton Ave.
Ours had no known history of pornography or sexual abuse, Cummings said. He has been a priest since 1980.
He was last church administrator of St. Rita’s Church in Chenango Forks, which has since closed, Cummings said. Ours left active ministry for unrelated personal reasons, she said.
VATICAN CITY, Aug 26 — A Polish archbishop accused of child sex abuse in the Dominican Republic has appealed against a Roman Catholic tribunal’s decision to defrock him, the Vatican said yesterday.
Jozef Wesolowski, who had served as a Vatican nuncio or ambassador to the Caribbean nation, was sentenced in late June to be expelled from the priesthood, an extremely rare step against such a senior church official.
“Former nuncio Josef Wesolowski has recently appealed, within the prescribed limit of two months, against the most serious canonical sentence, that of a return to the lay state, which has been imposed upon him,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in a statement.
The appeal will be judged “without delay” over the coming weeks, most likely in October 2014, Lombardi said. He said that Wesolowski, who was recalled last August to the Vatican, had lost diplomatic immunity when he stopped functioning as a diplomat of the Holy See.
Criminal proceedings by judicial authorities at the Vatican, which has been under pressure for over a decade to prevent child sex abuse by priests, would continue as soon as the canonical (Church law) sentence becomes definitive, Lombardi said.
If found guilty in a criminal trial, Wesolowski could risk extradition to the Dominican Republic, which has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the case.
The United Nations watchdog against torture urged the Vatican in May to investigate the case and ensure he is criminally prosecuted or extradited to face charges in the Dominican Republic if warranted.
Lombardi said Pope Francis had been “duly and carefully informed” of the case and wished to address it “justly and rigorously”. — Reuters
Polish archbishop appeals defrocking for sexual abuse
File picture shows Archbishop Josef Wesolowski, the Vatican’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic, offering mass in Santo Domingo August 3, 2009. —Reuters picVATICAN CITY, Aug 26 — A Polish archbishop accused of child sex abuse in the Dominican Republic has appealed against a Roman Catholic tribunal’s decision to defrock him, the Vatican said yesterday.
Jozef Wesolowski, who had served as a Vatican nuncio or ambassador to the Caribbean nation, was sentenced in late June to be expelled from the priesthood, an extremely rare step against such a senior church official.
“Former nuncio Josef Wesolowski has recently appealed, within the prescribed limit of two months, against the most serious canonical sentence, that of a return to the lay state, which has been imposed upon him,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in a statement.
The appeal will be judged “without delay” over the coming weeks, most likely in October 2014, Lombardi said. He said that Wesolowski, who was recalled last August to the Vatican, had lost diplomatic immunity when he stopped functioning as a diplomat of the Holy See.
Criminal proceedings by judicial authorities at the Vatican, which has been under pressure for over a decade to prevent child sex abuse by priests, would continue as soon as the canonical (Church law) sentence becomes definitive, Lombardi said.
If found guilty in a criminal trial, Wesolowski could risk extradition to the Dominican Republic, which has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the case.
The United Nations watchdog against torture urged the Vatican in May to investigate the case and ensure he is criminally prosecuted or extradited to face charges in the Dominican Republic if warranted.
Lombardi said Pope Francis had been “duly and carefully informed” of the case and wished to address it “justly and rigorously”. — Reuters
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Polish archbishop appeals defrocking for sexual abuse
File picture shows Archbishop Josef Wesolowski, the Vatican’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic, offering mass in Santo Domingo August 3, 2009. —Reuters picVATICAN CITY, Aug 26 — A Polish archbishop accused of child sex abuse in the Dominican Republic has appealed against a Roman Catholic tribunal’s decision to defrock him, the Vatican said yesterday.
Jozef Wesolowski, who had served as a Vatican nuncio or ambassador to the Caribbean nation, was sentenced in late June to be expelled from the priesthood, an extremely rare step against such a senior church official.
“Former nuncio Josef Wesolowski has recently appealed, within the prescribed limit of two months, against the most serious canonical sentence, that of a return to the lay state, which has been imposed upon him,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in a statement.
The appeal will be judged “without delay” over the coming weeks, most likely in October 2014, Lombardi said. He said that Wesolowski, who was recalled last August to the Vatican, had lost diplomatic immunity when he stopped functioning as a diplomat of the Holy See.
Criminal proceedings by judicial authorities at the Vatican, which has been under pressure for over a decade to prevent child sex abuse by priests, would continue as soon as the canonical (Church law) sentence becomes definitive, Lombardi said.
If found guilty in a criminal trial, Wesolowski could risk extradition to the Dominican Republic, which has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the case.
The United Nations watchdog against torture urged the Vatican in May to investigate the case and ensure he is criminally prosecuted or extradited to face charges in the Dominican Republic if warranted.
Lombardi said Pope Francis had been “duly and carefully informed” of the case and wished to address it “justly and rigorously”. — Reuters
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/world/article/polish-archbishop-appeals-defrocking-for-sexual-abuse#sthash.guGQx29G.dpuf
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Former Vatican ambassador Jozef Wesolowski could face trial over alleged sex abuse after losing diplomatic immunity
The Vatican defrocked had already the former archbishop
A former papal diplomat, who was defrocked over allegations that he sexually abused young boys, has lost his diplomatic immunity and could therefore face trial in the Dominican Republic, according to the Vatican.
Authorities in the Dominican Republic, where Jozef Wesolowski served as nuncio, or ambassador, said an investigation uncovered allegations that Wesolowski had paid young boys to perform sexual acts. However, prosecutors did not file charges because as nuncio, Wesolowski had diplomatic immunity.
The Vatican has previously insisted in its handling of the delicate case of Josef Wesolowski that he enjoyed diplomatic immunity and that the Holy See doesn’t extradite its own citizens.
But Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in a statement on Monday that the 66-year-old former archbishop no longer had immunity and might “be subjected to judicial procedures from the courts that could have specific jurisdiction over him”.
Lombardi went on to deny that the Vatican had tried to cover up the case by recalling Wesolowski to Rome when he was still a diplomat in Santo Domingo, and insisted the Vatican had “moved without delay and correctly”.
Last June, a Vatican tribunal ruled to defrock the former archbishop. The sentence is the harshest under church law and meant he was reduced to the status of a layman and could no longer be a minister.
His case marked the first time such a high-ranking Vatican official had been sanctioned for alleged sex abuse.
Lombardi said Wesolowski was appealing against the defrocking, with a decision expected in October.
In addition to the possibility of facing trial in the Dominican Republic, Wesolowski is to undergo a separate, criminal trial in Vatican City. Last year, the Vatican updated its laws to specifically criminalise the sexual abuse of children, but it is not clear if the new law can be applied retroactively.
Pope Francis is said to be closely watching Wesolowski’s case
In the past, Pope Francis has called the sexual abuse of children by priests an “ugly crime” and likened it to “a Satanic Mass”.
Francis, who has vowed zero tolerance against clerics who sexually abuse children, was following the Wesolowski case very carefully and wanted it to be handled “justly and rigorously”, said Lombardi.
While it is unclear if and when the Vatican informed Dominican authorities that it knew of the allegations, it has pledged cooperation in the Dominican investigation and a related one in Wesolowski’s native Poland.
However, the Vatican has refused to provide any information about Wesolwski’s whereabouts or how he has pleaded to the charges and has refused to release contact information for his lawyer.
After he was seen on the streets of Rome, the Vatican said that ”adequate measures” would be taken to prevent him from fleeing before his criminal trial gets under way.
Former Catholic priest Rene Paul Emile Labelle leaves court in Kingston on Friday Jan. 17, after being convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage boy 10 years ago. IAN MACALPINE/KINGSTON WHIG-STANDARD/QMI AGENCY
A retired priest convicted of molesting a teenage boy in the rectory of a Wolfe Island church about a decade ago, has died.
Rene Paul Emile Labelle was found in his west end Kingston apartment earlier this week, he was 65.
The former chaplain at Holy Cross Secondary School was sentenced in April to 16 months in jail, followed by probation for 30 months with counselling. He had yet to begin serving his sentence.
At his trial in January, Labelle estified that he denied doing what he was charged with. His defence lawyer, John Eccelstone, confirmed at the conclusion of his sentencing hearing that his client was appealing the conviction and has already applied for bail pending that appeal.
Kingston Police were called to the apartment building on Norwest Road on Monday where Labelle’s body was discovered.
Kingston Police Const. Steve Koopman said detectives and forensic officers attended the scene and have ruled out foul play in the death.
Labelle resigned from the church in January 2012 when the allegations against him were becoming public. His last assignment was at St. Barnaby Catholic Church on Hwy. 15 near Brewers Mills.
– The Whig-Standard
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Former Quinte area priest found dead
Wed, Aug 27th, ’14 – 6:02 am
Reverend Rene Labelle, a former Quinte area Roman Catholic priest has died.
The 65 year-old was discovered dead in his west-end Kingston apartment on Monday.
Labelle was appealing a court ruling which found him guilty on sex assault charges against a minor, something he denied.
Labelle plead not guilty and maintained his innocence in the case, which completed in April.
He was scheduled to appear in a Kingston court tomorrow.
Rene Labelle was a former chaplain of Nicholson Catholic College and a priest in both Belleville and Tyendinaga Township.
