By DIANE SHEA
Bucks County Courier Times

In February of this year, the Bucks County Courier Times carried two articles about Dave Sicoli, former priest stationed at Immaculate Conception parish in Levittown. Sicoli was one of the many priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who had been named as a sexual predator in the grand jury report on the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

One article was written by Matt Coughlin, who reported that Sicoli had been defrocked by the Vatican.

This could only have happened if the evidence against Sicoli clearly and unambiguously found him guilty of the sexual abuses of which he had been accused. The second, by Ben Finley, brought attention to the fact that Sicoli has a home somewhere in Sea Isle, N.J., yet his neighbors have no access to knowledge about Sicoli’s past.

Both articles made reference to the statute of limitations as the reason for this dreadful reality. What seems to be apparent is the need to support legislation in Harrisburg (House Bill 1574), which has been in committee. But why the holdup? Why has this bill allowing for civil action against these predators not found unanimous support?

I suggest that the best answer can be found in a newly published book, “Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children,” written by Marci Hamilton and published by Cambridge University Press. A lawyer and constitutional expert, Hamilton tackles the issue head-on but in language that is clearly written and not full of unnecessary legalese.

She argues that the legal system has obstinately persisted in supporting sexual predators at the expense of victimized children. For Hamilton, the solution is simple. The statute of limitations for sexual offenses against children must be eliminated. But simple is not apparent, especially to those with a vested interest in keeping those victimized out of the courtroom.

According to Hamilton, many in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church have actively and successfully lobbied in numerous states to defeat legislation that even opens a window of opportunity for victims. Yet, she is not guilty of Church bashing. She acknowledges the role that the Church has played in this arena but points to the insurance lobbyists as the primary, albeit quieter, barrier.


So too have teacher unions, some defense attorneys, and finally the many of us who might fall into the category of uninformed public, been complicit in looking out for something or someone other than children who need a voice.

Of the many arguments that Hamilton proposes, one that I support wholeheartedly is those who have been sexually abused are not likely to report their abuse until adulthood and the rate of nondisclosure is estimated to be nearly 90 percent. In my own research I found that over 25 percent of those abused by a priest did not disclose until after that age of 49. Of those abused by someone other than a priest, 28 percent had not disclosed until the ages of 40-49.

The benefits of abolishing the statute of limitations seem obvious. I agree with Hamilton. We will have better knowledge of those among us who have abused children. More children will have greater protection. Finally, members of the clergy are by no means the primary perpetrators of sexual abuse. No organization is exempt and sexual abuse is most often committed by a family member. We must take a stand for the civil rights of our children.

As Hamilton documented, in California, where the statute “window” was enacted, only a small fraction of claims were found to be false and 300 new abusers (by some estimates) were identified. Surely this is worth the cost. Are we in Pennsylvania, like Californians, willing to take a stand in favor of our children? I encourage you to read Hamilton’s book and, more importantly, write a letter in support of House Bill 1574.

Diane Shea, Langhorne, is an adjunct professor at Holy Family University and is a former director of residential services for Elwyn, Inc.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/322-05032008-1528634.html

Ten times more than medical treatment to U.S. victims

Legal Fees now total $200 million for the past four years

Also, number of never before reported clergy offenders in U. S. increases for first time

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP National Board, Milwaukee

United States bishops paid a staggering $60 million dollars to their attorneys last year to defend themselves for covering up child sex crimes, according to a yearly “self-report” issued today.   The total amount of money bishops have been billed by attorneys in the last four years now tops $200 million dollars.

In comparison, the bishops last year spent one tenth of that total, or about 8 million dollars, on therapy costs for victims.  And $22 million dollars was spent on child protection efforts in 2007, or just one third of what church attorneys billed Catholic dioceses last year.   

These figures were buried today in the annual self-report “audit” released by the American Catholic Bishops and they reveal very starkly exactly what the priorities are for the bishops:  themselves.   

Of equal concern, for the first time since self-reports were issued in 2004 the number of U.S. Catholic clergy with “new, credible” allegations of child sex abuse increased last year by ten percent.  204 newly identified clerics last year were reported to have committed child sex crimes in Catholic institutions across the United States.  The number of clerics known by church authorities who have raped or sexually assaulted children over the past several decades totals, with the new numbers, over 5,000.   

Sadly, on the eve of the Pope’s first visit to the United States, just a few months away: 

-The identities and settlement locations of clerical sex offenders remain secret.

-56 U.S. religious orders refused last year to even participate in the self-report and are not in compliance with the Dallas Charter.

-Clergy are still not mandatory reporters of child sex abuse in the majority of U.S. states. 

-No bishop or priest has yet to be disciplined or fired for not reporting child abuse or for covering up child sex crimes.

-Several lay review boards did not even meet in 2007.

-Church hired “auditors” who issued the report were again given no access to personal files, making it pretty hard to review criminal conduct.

-The quality, duration or nature of outreach to victims or treatment and supervision of offenders remains a mystery. 

Admittedly, some information about child sex crimes from American bishops is better than none.  But today’s self-report, like the ones issued in the past, raise a lot more questions than they answer. 

Even so, when the Pope visits the United States this spring, will the American bishops insist that the partial reforms in the United States must be implemented across the globe?   

There are 400,500 clergy in the Catholic Church worldwide.  The American bishops have admitted that at least 4 percent of their clergy are or have been child sex offenders.  That would mean, conservatively, some 20,000 priests worldwide are likely child molesters who are unpunished, untreated and unsupervised.    

As for the United States, as long as federal or national authorities, such as the Department of Justice, no doubt out of political considerations, will not investigate how over 5,000 priest child molesters were transferred into virtually every parish and school in the United States, including across state and international boundaries, Catholics have little choice but to rely on these on these thin, compromised, and poorly constructed yearly reports.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is the nation’s oldest and largest self help organization of clergy sex abuse survivors, founded in 1980 with over, 7,000 victim/survivors in 61 chapters nationwide.  Visit SNAP online at SNAPnetwork.org

They call it “passing the trash,” and it’s a common policy that lets child abusers resign and move to another district

It would take months for the agency that licenses Oregon teachers to discipline a Salem-area teacher for inappropriately touching at least eight girls.

To get Kenneth John Cushing, then 44, away from Claggett Creek Middle School students immediately, administrators cut him a deal: If Cushing resigned, they would conceal his alleged conduct — clutching students’ waists, touching their buttocks and massaging their shoulders — from the public.

Cushing signed the pact — obtained by The Oregonian through public records requests — with Salem-Keizer Public Schools in 2004, and officials promised not to reveal the teacher’s behavior if potential employers called looking for a reference. They would attribute his departure to “personal reasons,” the document reads, and make “no reference to this agreement.”

Salem’s deal is just one of 47 similar confidential settlement agreements obtained or confirmed by the newspaper.

During the past five years, nearly half of Oregon teachers disciplined for sexual misconduct with a child left their school districts with confidential agreements. Most, like Cushing’s, promised to keep alleged abuse quiet. Some promised cash settlements, health insurance and letters of recommendation as incentives for a resignation.

The practice is so widespread, school officials across the country call it “passing the trash.”

The Oregonian reviewed 767 cases of educator misconduct over the past 10 years in which the state commission revoked or suspended licenses for misbehavior. Sex-related offenses ranked the most common, and in 165 cases the agency disciplined educators for misconduct ranging from touching students or sending them love notes to molestation and rape.

This, of course, is a tiny fraction of the 35,000 educators who teach, mentor and coach in Oregon.

The state Teacher Standards and Practices Commission eventually revoked Cushing’s license in January 2005. He went on to teach at a charter school in Tucson, Ariz., in the 2006-07 school year and drew no complaints or reprimands there, administrators said. He left after one year, citing “personal reasons.”

In August, he started work at Cardigan Mountain School, a private, all-boys school in New Hampshire. Headmaster David McCusker said Cushing didn’t reveal his misconduct in Oregon when he was hired, and background checks revealed nothing.

Cushing declined to comment to The Oregonian. McCusker says Cushing will keep his job there. “We have been pleased with his performance,” McCusker said.

Secret and expedient

Oregon public school officials say an educator suspected of sexual misconduct gives them few options. If they fire the educator, they may face a costly legal battle with teachers union lawyers. Putting an employee on paid leave is also expensive because the commission takes, on average, nearly 16 months to complete investigations.

The Oregonian found that in 2006-07, 28 Oregon educators missed 993 workdays while on paid leave during investigations of misconduct, at a cost of about $350,000 in salaries and hiring substitutes.

Cutting a resignation agreement offers the fastest, cheapest way for a district to push a problem teacher out of the classroom, school officials say.

That’s what the Three Rivers School District did with Stephen John Koller, a 30-year-old science teacher who later admitted to an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old senior at Illinois Valley High School.

School officials first notified the state in January 2003 that Koller was under investigation for allegations he was living with a female student.

Initially, the state commission ordered Koller into counseling. Then the Three Rivers school board offered Koller a deal: $10,000 in severance, six months of health insurance and a letter that said, “He is personally committed to his work and will work extra hours to be successful.”

In October 2004, the commission revoked Koller’s license, a decision that prevented him from using his recommendation to apply for work in another Oregon public school.

Koller, who declined comment, never taught Oregon high school students again. He subsequently worked at two community colleges, where administrators say they were unaware of his past sexual conduct.

“(The agreement) happened in a way that was least damaging to the school district and the kids,” says Jerry Fritts, Three Rivers superintendent.

But some school leaders say the widespread practice of cutting resignation agreements risks student safety for the sake of protecting districts from costly legal fees.

“You cannot lie for a teacher,” said Carolyn Ortman, a Hillsboro school board member and former member of the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission. “Just because a teacher isn’t good enough to work in your district, doesn’t mean they are good enough to work in anyone’s district.”

But even Hillsboro has adopted the common practice of providing only dates of employment when another district inquires about a former employee.

“The whole world of reference checks has become a legal arena,” said Hillsboro Superintendent Jeremy Lyon. “You are in a precarious place if you say anything positive or negative about a past employee.”

Michael Morey, a lawyer who represents victims of sexual abuse and has worked on several cases involving teachers, says the “cover-up” denies victims the chance to know they are not alone and shields school officials from accountability.

“Every organization that has an involvement with children should have open transparency and full disclosure when it comes to the abuse of children,” Morey said.

Similar problems with secret deals in California led the state Supreme Court to rule that districts can be sued for such pacts. The decision largely put an end to resignation deals, said Mary Armstrong, a lawyer for the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

In 1997, the California court ruled that a 13-year-old student sexually molested by Robert Gadams, a middle school vice principal in Livingston Union School District, could sue for fraud and negligent misrepresentation three districts that previously employed Gadams. Gadams had been repeatedly disciplined for sexual misconduct and received resignation agreements from all three districts.

“The secret deals are one of the main things that keep the wheels greased on the machinery that keeps passing around the molesters,” said Mary Jo McGrath, school law attorney and sexual abuse expert in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Protect pupils, teachers

Oregon’s commission, with its power to revoke licenses, marks the last line of defense in keeping schools free of harmful educators.

But the commission, a professional organization supported by license fees, also tries to serve educators and their interests. Teachers unions helped create the commission in 1965, and nearly all 17 commissioners are teachers or former teachers.

The agency has 2.5 investigators to handle nearly 300 pending cases across the state. It has not invested in additional investigators, despite a $1 million annual carryover, because state lawmakers must approve additional spending, according to Vickie Chamberlain, the agency’s executive director. Until last year, she didn’t ask for additional staff, assuming legislators would deny the request. In 2007, lawmakers approved increasing the staff from 1.5 to 2.5 investigators.

Still, lengthy investigations remain problematic.

In January 2006, Texas officials notified the commission that an Oregon teacher, Neil Martin Abrahams, sent mail to an imprisoned sex offender that included images of boys in swimsuits and information from the North American Man/Boy Love Association.

A commission investigator interviewed Abrahams, a 51-year-old substitute teacher working in four Portland-area school districts, in September 2006. Abrahams “admitted that he had fallen in love with a male student during a prior teaching assignment” in Texas, according to a commission report.

But after the investigator resigned, the case sat among the pending cases until August 2007, when the commission revoked Abrahams’ license.

Abrahams said he taught three to four days a week between the initial complaint and his discipline. He was never arrested or charged with a crime. He lost his license because he admitted to being attracted to children. Abrahams signed the stipulated order, but stated at the time that he didn’t believe the commission’s evidence supported all of its findings.

Much of the commission’s decision-making on teacher discipline is shrouded from public view. The status of investigations is kept confidential, even from school officials. In addition, the commission dismisses about half of the 200 complaints it receives each year.

Those, too, are kept confidential from the public and school officials, under a state law designed to protect innocent teachers from false accusations.

Through public records requests, The Oregonian uncovered two confidential settlement agreements in which the state commission promised not to discipline accused educators if they in turn agreed not to teach in Oregon. In a third confidential settlement agreement, the commission promised not to discipline a teacher publicly after going to mediation.

One of the agreements was reached in 2000 with Glen “Skip” Morris Kinney Jr., an elementary school teacher in the Redmond School District.

Kinney befriended a fourth-grader in his class, whom he took under his wing and treated like a member of his family. The girl said she grew to trust Kinney, even more than her father.

In 1991, when she turned 16 and Kinney was 32, she said, they started having sex. In 1996, following a 14-month investigation, Kinney was charged in Deschutes County with 19 counts of sex abuse. A judge acquitted him in 1999. Kinney acknowledged having sex with the girl, but only after she turned 18, the legal age of consent.

In 2000, Kinney signed a confidential agreement with the state promising to never teach in Oregon again. The deal allowed the state to avoid a contested case hearing. In exchange, the agency would not investigate him, discipline him or enter his name into a national clearinghouse that tracks teachers subjected to state action.

That agreement didn’t keep Kinney from trying to teach again. In 2001, according to Montana school officials, Kinney obtained a license to teach there. Jackie Boyle, communication director for the Montana Office of Public Instruction, says there is no record of Kinney actually teaching in the state. But Boyle also said it is unlikely that Montana school officials ever knew of Kinney’s conduct in Oregon. Montana does not make such settlement agreements.

When contacted by The Oregonian, Kinney said he is no longer teaching and works in construction in Montana.

Chamberlain, who wasn’t the commission’s director at the time, said she can’t comment on the Kinney case because of the confidentiality clause.

However, Chamberlain says such agreements are reached when commissioners recognize educators could pose harm to students, but don’t have the evidence to charge them with misconduct.

“It’s never an ideal situation,” Chamberlain said. “You really have to weigh the risk. The risk could be that a person who potentially is dangerous can be totally free.”

Ortman, who served on the commission for six years, said she rubber-stamped some disciplinary cases, which continues to haunt her.

“There were things in that discipline packet that would break my heart,” Ortman said. “It would make me so angry. In my heart, I believed (the teachers) deserved more.”

Though commissioners say they give student safety high priority, their mission also includes “always save a good educator,” Chamberlain said. Commission members have no written guidelines on appropriate penalties and rely heavily on the recommendations of investigators and Chamberlain.

“Our decision-making is based on the 17 people’s gut feelings,” Chamberlain said. “They usually are right.”

The commission usually gives teachers who touch students or watch pornography on school computers a public reprimand or probation and permits them to keep teaching if they get counseling and pass a psychological evaluation.

Even educators who admit to sexual misconduct with a student sometimes get a second chance.

Robert Philip Carwithen, a music teacher in the Sheridan School District, surrendered his license in 1997 after soliciting sex from a student. He got counseling, and the commission reinstated his license two years later. He now teaches in three schools in the Winston-Dillard School District in Douglas County.

“He’s earned our trust,” said Kevin McDaniel, principal of Douglas High School. “One of the reasons we were willing to take a chance was because he was very forthright about what happened.”

Still, it’s the granting of second chances, secret deals, slow investigations and naive staff that help problem teachers remain in Oregon schools, experts on sex offenders say.

That’s why Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, sponsored the law passed last year that requires all districts to offer education on child abuse to parents and staff. Walker also sponsored a law that allows the public to see the personnel record of any educator convicted of most sex-related crimes.

Oregon needs to be more aggressive in deterring offenders who rely on secrecy and ignorance, Walker said.

“There is a conspiracy of silence, and we need to blast it open,” Walker said. “No children should be robbed of their childhood by an adult.”

Amy Hsuan: 503-294-5137; amyhsuan@news.oregonian.com
Melissa Navas: 503-294-5959; melissanavas@news.oregonian.com
Bill Graves: 503-221-8549; billgraves@news.oregonian.com

Records show a pattern of missed red flags and ignored complaints from students

Important Events of 2007
presented by BishopAccountability.org

This page summarizes 19 important stories of 2007 with links to investigative reporting, documents, and streaming video. What lessons do you see, and what omens for the new year? Roll your mouse over the photos to view captions. Email us with comments, stories we should have included, and commentaries that moved and informed you in 2007. We’ll post your favorites next week.

| Hand of God | Gumbleton Resigns | Cleveland Financials | Teczar Convicted | CNN’s Tom Roberts | Maiello Verdict | Spokane Bankruptcy Ends | Few Portland Documents | Delaware Child Victims Act | Los Angeles Settles | San Diego Settles | Aguilar Documents | Giuliani and Placa | Jesuit McGuire Indicted | USCCB Elects George | Jesuits Settle Alaska Claims | Davenport Settles | Providence Files | Franciscan Newman Indicted |

Hand of God Shows Worldwide on NPR’s Frontline January 16, 2007 The story of survivor Paul Cultrera and his family’s search for the truth about Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham. This award-winning film by Cultrera’s brother Joe shows how Birmingham abused boys in a tight-knit Italian community north of Boston, how Paul confronted Bishop John B. McCormack, and how Joe confronted Bishop Richard G. Lennon during the filming. View the video. See also our collection of documents and background for the movie, including statements by Paul Cultrera and archdiocesan documents.

Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton Is Removed from His Parish January 21, 2007 Gumbleton testified on 1/11/06 in favor of statute of limitations reform in Ohio, describing his own abuse by a priest when Gumbleton was a teenage seminarian. His resignation as auxiliary bishop of Detroit, tendered at age 75, was forthwith accepted, and on 1/21/07, Gumbleton was removed from St. Leo’s parish, where he was pastor. See a report with video of Gumbleton’s sermon on that day, and Cardinal Maida’s letter removing Gumbleton. See also Gumbleton’s 2006 testimony and an article about it.

Financial Documents Begin to Emerge in the Cleveland Diocese February 16, 2007 On 2/16/07, Joseph H. Smith, the former chief financial officer of the Cleveland diocese, claimed in a court filing that former Bishop Anthony M. Pilla wrote checks and bought furniture from off-the-books church accounts. Filings on 3/15/07 accused Rev. John J. Wright, chief accountant of the diocese and Smith’s boss, of participating in the scheme to enrich himself and his girlfriend. See filings by Smith and Anton Zgoznik, and our collection of documents and articles.

Thomas Teczar Is Convicted of Sexual Abuse March 7, 2007 Teczar was convicted of sexual assault and indecency and was sentenced to 25 years in prison for molesting and raping an 11-year-old boy in Texas. The conviction was made possible by the determination of David Lewcon (photo at left), a Teczar survivor from Massachusetts. The documents that emerged shed light on the diocesan traffic in accused priests. See an article on the Teczar conviction, a 1998 video report on Teczar’s Worcester victims, a series from Texas, and the Fort Worth documents.

Sins of the Father Shown on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 March 19, 2007 Documentary about Michael Goles and Thomas Roberts, survivors of abuse by Rev. Jerome F. (Jeff) Toohey, Jr. See video 1 2 3 4 5 6  [total 47:24] with transcript and follow-up interview with Roberts on 3/20/07 1 2  [total 10:27]. See also Supporters Pray for Accused Priest, which is discussed in segment 4.

Jury Awards Two Maiello Survivors $11.45M May 18, 2007 A Long Island jury awarded $11.45 million in damages to a young man and woman who were repeatedly raped by a youth minister as teenagers starting in the late 1990s. The jury found that the diocese of Rockville Centre, St. Raphael’s church in East Meadow, and its pastor were negligent in hiring and retaining Matthew Maiello. Hear a statement by one of the survivors with other links and read about the role of Maiello’s pastor Rev. Thomas Heggarty. See also articles 1 2 3.

Spokane Emerges from Bankruptcy Protection May 31, 2007 The Spokane diocese emerged from bankruptcy protection 30 months after filing on 12/6/04. In the reorganization plan, $48M was distributed by mediation among 140 claimants. The settlement kept payouts, priests’ names, and diocesan documents confidential. During the bankruptcy, Bishop William S. Skylstad also served as president of the USCCB and was himself accused of sexual abuse. See articles on the end of bankruptcy, the filing, the settlement and payout plan, the secrecy, Skylstad’s USCCB post and allegation, and fundraising for the settlement.

Few Documents Released in Portland Bankruptcy Settlement June 6, 2007 As part of his successful bankruptcy strategy, Archbishop John G. Vlazny settled on 4/13/07 with 150 victims of sexual abuse for $75M. The highly touted release of documents stipulated by the settlement came to nearly nought on 6/6/07 when the archdiocese released a few hundred pages from its voluminous files, including only 32 pages from the huge personnel file of Rev. Maurice R. Grammond, accused of molesting at least 59. See the documents with links to articles. See also articles on the 7/6/04 bankruptcy filing, Grammond, and the settlement, and comments by Marci Hamilton and Mark Chopko. See in particular a very useful study of Portland abuse cases based on bankruptcy documents and a chronology and photo album of some participants.

Delaware Child Victims Act Becomes Law July 10, 2007 The act establishes a two-year moratorium on the statute of limitations in lawsuits for sex abuse. The law, whose chief sponsor was Senator Karen E. Peterson, passed unanimously in both houses of the General Assembly. It gives abuse victims until 7/10/2009 to seek damages, regardless of when the assaults occurred. This is the second such window in the nation – a one-year window took effect in California on 1/1/03, resulting in hundreds of survivors’ coming forward. See articles on the Delaware hearings, the bill’s passage and signing, and the first suit to be filed in the window. See also an article about the result of the legislation in California, and articles below about the settlements there.

Los Angeles Archdiocese Settles with 508 Survivors for $660M July 14, 2007 On the day that the first trial was to begin, Cardinal Mahony settled with 508 survivors, the last of about 570 total claims against 221 priests, brothers, lay teachers and other church employees, many of them made possible by the 2003 SOL window. The archdiocese had previously made settlements totaling $114M. The settlement promised the release of archdiocesan abuse files, but none were released in 2007. See articles on the settlement 12, survivors’ assessments 1 2, the commitment to release the documents, a photo album, an editorial in Commonweal, and Thomas Doyle’s response. See also earlier articles by Timothy Lytton and Mark Sargent on litigation and the crisis.

San Diego Settlement Effectively Ends Bankruptcy Case September 7, 2007 Judge Peter Lichtman apportioned $198.1M among 144 sexual-abuse plaintiffs, placing the specific amounts under seal. The awards effectively ended a troubled bankruptcy case that Bishop Robert H. Brom had filed on 2/27/07, as trials were set to begin. In closing the case on 11/1/07, bankruptcy judge Louise DeCarl Adler declared, “Chapter 11 is not supposed to be a vehicle, a method, to hammer down the claims of those abused.” See articles about the filing, the settlement, the awards, and the end of the bankruptcy. See also the filing itself, a list of diocesan properties, a two-part list of accused priests, a critique of the list, and a collection of bankruptcy documents.

Mexican and Los Angeles Documents in Aguilar Case Are Released September 11, 2007 SNAP released documents from Joaquín Aguilar Méndez’ suit against Rev. Nicolás Aguilar Rivera, who had been charged in 1988 of abusing 10 boys in Los Angeles. He allegedly raped the 12-year-old Aguilar Méndez in 1994, after he fled U.S. authorities and after Mexican bishops and civil authorities knew of the LA accusations. This suit alleges that Cardinal Mahony and Cardinal Rivera conspired to protect the priest. See the documents with other links, the lawsuit, and an article on the significance of the case in Mexico.

Rudy Giuliani’s Shielding of Accused Priest Becomes Campaign Issue October 23, 2007 Msgr. Alan Placa’s role in the Rockville Centre diocese’s abuse bureaucracy and the abuse allegations against him emerged in 2002 Newsday reporting and later in the 2/10/03 Suffolk County Grand Jury Report. Yet when Placa was suspended by Bishop Murphy on 6/13/02 after Richard Tollner’s allegation, Placa went to work for Giuliani Partners, and when Giuliani entered the presidential race, his protection of Placa became an issue. See Newsday 1 2 3 4 5, the Grand Jury report 6 7 (esp. p. 120), the NY Times 8, Newsday 9, Salon 10, Worcester Telegram & Gazette 11, and ABC 12.

Prominent Jesuit Criminally Charged with Abusing Boy Abroad November 1, 2007 Rev. Donald J. McGuire, S.J. was charged in federal court with the crime of transporting a male minor to Switzerland and Austria and sexually abusing the boy. Since the 1980s, McGuire was the spiritual director for Mother Teresa, her Missionaries of Charity, and many other groups. He would routinely abuse the boys who served without pay as his assistants. The Jesuits were told about McGuire’s abuse of boys on 11/28/69 and often thereafter but were unresponsive. See the criminal complaint in the federal case and an article about those charges. See also the earliest known complaint, a more recent one, and an NPR report on McGuire.

Cardinal George Enables Abuse but Is Named USCCB President November 13, 2007 Cardinal Francis E. George OMI, archbishop of Chicago, was elected president of the USCCB by the bishops, although four boys say they were sexually abused by Rev. Daniel McCormack after George learned of abuse allegations in early 9/05, and after the cardinal’s own review board had told him on 10/15/05 to remove McCormack. The priest was arrested on 1/20/06; he pled guilty without apology on 7/2/07 to abusing five boys and was sentenced to five years in prison. The archdiocese faced no sanctions, though it had violated the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. See NPR’s reportCardinal George’s letter, and articles on the 2005 allegation, McCormack’s past and sentencing, and George’s election.

Jesuits Settle Claims by 110 Alaska Natives for $50M November 16, 2007 This settlement resolved complaints against 12 priests, 2 deacons, and a brother, who sexually abused children in the remote native communities of northwestern Alaska. The victims alleged that their communities were used as dumping grounds, that Jesuit attitudes about native populations figured in the abuse, and that the Jesuits placed managerial conversations under the seal of the confessional to conceal their prior knowledge of the abuse. See articles about the communities and the Lundowski survivors with map and photos, Jesuit attitudes and the Poole survivors, Jesuit vs. native culture, the secrecy issue, the genesis and history of these cases, and the settlement with background and comments by survivors with photos.

$37M Settlement with 156 Clears Davenport to Emerge from Bankruptcy November 29, 2007 Davenport filed for bankruptcy on 10/10/06 – after a jury awarded Michl Uhde $1.5M for sexual abuse by Msgr. Thomas J. Feeney, once vicar general of the diocese, and just before Gould v. Bishop Lawrence D. Soens was scheduled to go to trial. A few days after he filed for bankruptcy, Bishop William E. Franklin’s resignation was accepted by the Vatican. Settlement monies will be apportioned in mediation, nonmonetary commitments have been made by Bishop Martin J. Amos, and a reorganization plan must be filed by 1/31/07. See articles and resources on the Uhde case and verdict, a statement of disputed facts in the lawsuit against Soens with affidavits, the Soens abuse cases 1 2, the bankruptcy filing with documents, the reaction of survivors 1 2, the settlement, and its financial implications.

Abuse Files of Providence Diocese Are Scrutinized December 2, 2007 Bishop Thomas J. Tobin began the year by claiming that it would be unduly burdensome to comply with a discovery request in a sexual abuse case. As many as 125 Providence priests had been accused of sexual misconduct, he said, and the files on these priests were perhaps 130,000 pages long. On 10/20/07, the Boston Globe showed that Tobin’s petition doubled the diocese’s previous count of accused priests in the John Jay report. Why the discrepancy? On 12/2/07, the Providence Journal used documents already public to demonstrate what waits in the still-secret Providence files. See Tobin’s petition, the Globe story with John Jay report, and the analysis in the Providence Journal.

Franciscan Accused of Abuse Is Indicted for Stealing $900K December 20, 2007 A Philadelphia grand jury indicted Rev. Charles Newman OFM on theft and forgery charges. Newman had been fired on 11/20/03 for "financial improprieties" as president of the largest archdiocesan high school in Philadelphia. On 6/16/04 Arthur Basilice III filed suit, accusing Newman of sexually abusing him and getting him hooked on drugs. Newman’s superior was accused of pressing the victim to take hush money. Basilice died on 11/30/06. See the indictment. See also articles on Newman’s resignation, the suit 1 2 3 4 with the archdiocese’s statement, and the indictment 1 2 3. See also a tribute to Arthur Baselice III.