Today, the Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Protection, formed in the wake of the child sexual abuse scandal involving Jerry Sandusky at Penn State University, issued its long-awaited report and recommendations. The Pennsylvania General Assembly authorized the Task Force to examine and evaluate state laws and procedures concerning child protection and reporting child abuse. The Task Force recommended comprehensive changes in the mandatory reporter law, including an increased focus on training and education. The Task Force’s recommendations, however, do not go far enough. …
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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 “…
This
year has been filled with disturbing revelations of trusted institutions failing
to protect children across the country. The utter failure of mandatory
reporters to follow their mandate is part and parcel of this year’s numerous
sex abuse scandals.
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…
Today, Jackson County Judge John Torrence found Bishop Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph guilty on one count of failing to report child abuse. Bishop Finn’s trial arises out of his own actions and the Diocese’s actions surrounding the December 2010 discovery that a Diocesan priest, Rev. Shawn Ratigan, produced child pornography with young parishioners of the Diocese.
On the heels of the release of Bishop Finn’s comment, “boys will be boys,” as revealed in his staffer’s deposition last week, his criminal trial has been accelerated.Bishop Finn’s trial, originally scheduled for September 24, will now start tomorrow afternoon in Kansas City. Both sides will now present their evidence and testimony in front of a judge, not a jury, at the request of Bishop Finn’s attorneys…
“Boys will be boys,” uttered Bishop Finn after being told about child pornography on Rev. Shawn Ratigan’s computer. “Sometimes priests do things they shouldn’t.” Bishop Finn’s appalling gaffe, spoken to a computer systems employee of the Diocese, reveals stunning, inside conversations and new details about Bishop Finn’s cover-up of Ratigan’s crimes. If boys will be boys, as Bishop Finn claims they will, then priests will continue to abuse kids until the Pope acts definitively to protect children instead of putting reputation over child welfare.Shawn Ratigan pleaded guilty earlie…
News outlets around the world reported Monday on the dismissal of the case against the Holy See. Oregon U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman’s dismissal of Plaintiff John V. Doe’s case against the Holy See was, admittedly, disappointing. After a 10-year battle against the sovereign Catholic nation, Judge Mosman ruled from the bench that the Holy See was not acting as an employer in this case of clergy sexual abuse. This ruling, however adverse, nonetheless affords us an opportunity to examine this case from the beginning as we look to appeal the decision.The case was originally filed in 20…
A Philadelphia jury made history today when it found Msgr. William Lynn guilty of endangering the welfare of a child. The jury’s decision is historic and unprecedented. Until now no top Catholic official has been criminally convicted for child endangerment. The result of this difficult and arduous trial presents the first true day of reckoning in the criminal justice system against any top official in the Catholic church hierarchy.For decades the top officials of the Catholic Church, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and elsewhere, have operated above the law and with impunity, believing that th…
(Terre Haute, Indiana) In what is believed to be the first childhood sexual abuse case against the Archdiocese of Indianapolis ever argued in Terre Haute Indiana, Hon. Michael Lewis gave the green light to a Terre Haute man to present his case to a Vigo County jury. In the case John Doe CD v. Archdiocese of Indianapolis et al., the Archdiocese argued to have the case dismissed because too much time had passed since Fr. Harry Monroe had sexually abused a boy in 1981. The Court disagreed. According to the Court’s Order, there was evidence that the Archdiocese concealed that it …