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Since last month, the tragic history of child sexual abuse at elite preparatory school Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minnesota has unfolded piecemeal. The courage survivors coming forward have empowered others to bring to light the abuse of multiple students by multiple perpetrators, including Lynn Philip Seibel and Len Jones.  New details are emerging of a third perpetrator, Joseph Machlitt, an art and photography teacher, who abused a student “JJ” in 1980.  Machlitt is currently charged with two felony counts of criminal sexual misconduct and Machlitt admitted to his abuse of “...

In yet another stunning example that child protection continues to take a backseat to protecting Catholic institutions and the religious, it is reported that the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts requires parents to sign a liability waiver when sending their children for religious education.  The Parental Contract for Diocesan Activities rests the ultimate responsibility for supervising a child on the parent even if the child is entrusted to the church for activities and programming.  Most importantly, parents must “specifically agree not to hold the Diocese or any of its employee...

The long history of sexual abuse by priests and their concealment and protection by the Chicago-Detroit Providence of Jesuits continues to unfold.  Through the 1950’s and 1970’s, St. Ignatius High School, a Jesuit Preparatory School in Cleveland, Ohio, was a safe haven for priests perpetrating sexual violence against children.  To date, more than 33 survivors have come forward with complaints of sexual abuse or improprieties that occurred while they attended the institution.  The number of accused perpetrators operating under the ecclesiastical cover of St. Ignatius High School ...