Jeff Anderson & Associates was informed that today the Boy Scouts of America made statements to the media that they have already taken sufficient actions regarding child sexual abuse in scouting. “All the pledges and promises from the Boy Scouts of America fall short. The reality is, they have to identify the names of thousands of offenders from their secret files. The Boy Scouts need to come clean and inform the communities who these people are, what they did, and where they are today. Through a simple keystroke, they have the ability today to release the names and locations of every…
The Vatican summit on Catholic clergy child sex abuse ended as these things usually do, with a lot of defensive and cynical lip service from the pope that has no apparent purpose other than public relations shell games. This time, it included a lot of papal talk about the devil.On the eve of the summit with 180 of his bishops last week, Pope Francis proclaimed that critics of the Church are “friends, cousins and relatives of the devil.”, an assertion so stunningly ridiculous and tone deaf that it is hard to believe a pope uttered it with a straight face. As the summit ended, Pope Francis state…
Monsignor Otto Garcia was tasked with handling pedophile priests in the Brooklyn Diocese — but now a man is accusing him of abuseA Queens man claims he endured sexual abuse by a priest — now a monsignor — who would later be accused of concealing the sins of pedophile priests in the Brooklyn Diocese.For more than four decades, Tommy Davis says, he carried the secret that he’d been repeatedly sexually abused as a teen by Monsignor Otto Garcia.And Davis says his shame caused him to fall into drugs, alcoholism and ruined relationships before he got sober. It took him decades to tell his story…
As an adult, Paul Dunn came forward and reported that he was sexually abused as a child by a Queens, NY, priest, many years after it happened. Now 53, Dunn spent the past 40 or so years suffering: attempted suicide, addiction, cutting, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and three failed marriages. In June, he turned down a $200,000 cash settlement for his suffering because it ‘“doesn’t even come close” to delivering justice.”’We are inspired by his courage and selflessness. The Diocese of Brooklyn, which covers Queens, offered Dunn the money after he provided details regarding his…
“Unfortunately, the Bishop has chosen to support a priest accused of abusing multiple children.” – Attorney Mike Reck(Buffalo, New York) – The Diocese of Buffalo made a startling and dangerous decision yesterday when it reinstated Fr. Dennis G. Riter who is accused of sexually abusing multiple children. The survivor who reported Fr. Riter says that he is “morally compelled to not walk away,” said Mike Reck, an attorney for the survivor, who added that the diocese needs to acknowledge that Riter is a public safety threat and reverse its decision immediately.“As long as the Diocese of Buffalo…
This month marks the 15th anniversary of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (often referred to as the “Dallas Charter”), a document in which U.S. bishops pledged to protect children and address the staggering problem of Catholic clergy child sexual abuse by adopting policies with “a firm determination to resolve the crisis.” The milepost is another reminder that, by and large, institutions continue to say they strive for accountability with initiatives like the Charter but in reality they often need to be forced kicking and screaming to do the right things to…
One of the most common questions we are asked in child protection is how many minors does a child molester sexually abuse in their lifetime?
In the case of Norbertine Father Reverend Brendan Smyth O. Praem, we have a glimpse into the mind, methods and devastating results from a Priest who was allowed by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy to decimate children in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the United States.
“Mr. Aiken said that Smyth was convicted of 117 cases of indecent assault against 41 children in the North and South. There were 74 convictions against …
The Roman Catholic archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis and a deputy bishop resigned on Monday after prosecutors recently charged the archdiocese with having failed to protect youths from abuse by pedophile priests. In statements released Monday morning, the archbishop, John C. Nienstedt, and an auxiliary bishop, Lee A. Piché, said they were resigning to help the archdiocese heal. “My leadership has unfortunately drawn attention away from the good works of His Church and those who perform them,” Archbishop Nienstedt said. “Thus my decision to step down.” The resignations come about 10 day…
On January 21, 2015 a civil lawsuit was filed in Nassau County, New York on behalf of a young woman who alleges she was sexually abused by Father Gregory Yacyshyn when she was a young parishioner at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Greenlawn, New York. Defendants in the lawsuit include the Diocese of Rockville Centre and Father Gregory Yacyshyn.
