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DIOCESE/State Watch
Wilmington, Delaware: After years of requests and demands
from VOTF Delamurva and survivor support organizations, the Archdiocese of
Wilmington, Delaware
has released the names of diocesan priests accused of sexually abusing children.
John Sullivan of VOTF Coastal Delmarva was among those who praised Bishop
Michael Saltarelli for his courage. The bishop has encouraged religious orders – the
Norbertines and Oblates of St. Francis de Sales – to do the same. The
list appears on the diocesan web site at cdow.org.
For more on this story as it developed, see the following Delaware Online
coverage provided by Skip
Sullivan of the VOTF affiliate there:
- 11/19/06 - Catholic
priests, parishioners grieved by sex abuse cases
By
Gary Soulsman, The News Journal
- 11/17/06 - After
years of refusal, diocese releases names of priests accused of sexual
abuse
By Beth Miller, Mike Chalmers and Gary Soulsman, The News Journal
- 11/17/06 -
Religious order priests not on list, 10 serving in diocese, according
to officials
By Beth Mille, The News Journal
- 11/17/06 - Catholic bishop took burden off priests by naming actual abusers
Opinion - The News Journal
- 11/17/06 - Bill
to extend time for abuse victims to sue in civil cases, Delaware only
allows 2 years from reporting
By Mike Chalmers, The News Journal
-
The O’Connell family has directed their lawyer to remove Bishop Saltarelli’s
name from their pending non-monetary lawsuit against several bishops.
This makes the first US diocese released from a sexual abuse case.
Read more.
New York, NY/Erie, PA: The secret trial by the Church of
an accused priest from the Archdiocese of New York is over. Daniel Donohue,
who accused Msgr.
Charles Kavanagh of sexual abuse, refused to sign an oath of confidentiality
as the trial opened. The Los Angeles Times quoted Donohue: “My
abuse would never have happened if there hadn’t been any secrecy,” he
said. “This is the same secrecy. People have signed these [oaths] for
years and years and years.” Read
more. VOTF members Tom Byrne (Cleveland) along with Ed Friedl
(Canton, OH), Kris Ward (Dayton, OH), Ed Wilson(NY) and Francis Piderit
(NY), have been leading VOTF's initiative
in Erie, PA.
Rockville Center, NY: According to Newsday.com: “Federal
agents arrested a Roman Catholic priest based in Roosevelt Friday on child
pornography charges
after authorities said he stored 1,300 sexually explicit images of children
on his rectory computer and engaged in sexually laced chats with detectives
posing as teenage boys.” For more details, click here.
Los Angeles, CA: According to Associated Press coverage in the Mercury
News: “After
a three-year delay, a court has opened the way for pretrial investigations
to begin in more than 100 lawsuits filed by people claiming they were sexually
molested by Roman Catholic priests. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge
Haley J. Fromholz released the claims for trial after a freeze that stalled
discovery and other pretrial investigation. The freeze was imposed as lawyers
for victims and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles spent years attempting to
settle more than 570 claims, covering 60 years, without trials. The decision
involves 32 priests and only about 20 percent of the claims arising from
the church scandal.” Read more.
- The Los Angeles Times reported: “A months-long delay in
notifying parents about sexual abuse allegations at a Catholic high school
raised questions
Friday about whether the Los Angeles Archdiocese violated its own reform
policies in molestation cases.” Read more.
-
The San Francisco Chronicle reports: “The bishop of the
Santa Rosa Catholic Diocese [Daniel Walsh] has agreed to undergo a four-month
counseling
program rather than face misdemeanor charges for failing to immediately
notify Sonoma County law enforcement officials about a priest's alleged
molestation
of underage boys.” Read more.
Philadelphia, PA: A Philadelphia Inquirer editorial began with a question: “Who
will watch over the youngest victims of sexual abuse?” and went on
with the news child protection advocates have been waiting for: “Joining
the Senate, which acted in June, House members on Wednesday gave their overwhelming
support to key changes in Pennsylvania’s child sex-abuse laws.” See
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/16032522.htm. New York
Times post-trial coverage is here.
Survivor Marie Whitehead of SNAP
Philadelphia thanked the many who made this
legislation happen.
Burlington, VT: According to the Burlington Free Press, “A
longtime attorney for the statewide Roman Catholic diocese has withdrawn
from the
team of lawyers representing the church in a priest sex abuse case pending
in Chittenden Superior Court. The withdrawal came as the court was preparing
for a hearing today on whether O'Brien should face sanctions, or a court-imposed
punishment, for allegedly concealing church documents the diocese was required
to share with O'Neill.” Read more.
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