CHRISTIAN SEX CRIMES - REPORTED THROUGH MARCH (by U.S. states, Canadian states, other countries)
*** ALABAMA ***
SETTLEMENT SHROUDS BAPTIST CASE. A secret settlement was reached
just before a civil suit went to jury against Moffett Road Baptist
Church minister Henry Hobson, Mobile, for sexually abusing a girl,
14. Hobson admitted having sexual intercourse with the girl he
referred to as an adopted daughter, once when she accompanied him on
church "visitation". He admitted she "wanted out", but called her a
"pleasant diversion". At first he denied her accusations and asked
her to say she had lied, for "damage control". He resigned in April
1991 after a suicide attempt when the girl confided in the youth
pastor about him. Attorney Robert Cunningham, Jr. told jurors that
many church members shunned the 9th grader, blaming her. His
attorney argued, "It certainly was not part of his job to have
sexual intercourse with her, and therefore the church is not
responsible," adding: "He thought it was better she learn about sex
from him rather than some young boy at school." Source: _Mobile
Register_
PRIEST ADMITS SEX WITH 10 TEENS. Wilputte Alanson "Lan" Sherwood,
48, pastor of St. Benedict Catholic Church in Chandler, admitted
having sex with 10 teenagers following a recent arrest for trying to
molest a male hitchhiker, 17. Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien told
reporters he knew of Sherwood's arrest in 1986 for indecent
exposure, but found him "remorseful and embarrassed" so did not
relieve him of duties. Sherwood was convicted twice for exposing
himself in X-rated bookstores; the court ordered him to stay out of
adult bookstores. The priest admitted to picking up hitchhikers,
taking them home to the rectory, and videotaping them in various sex
acts, including a boy as young as 14. Police confiscated 272
pornographic videos, and four 3-ring binders recording the first
names of sex partners, physical descriptions, list of acts
performed, ages, and "scores" rating their performances. Although
relieved of duties, Sherwood will receive a $685 a month salary and
$550 a month car allowance. Source: _Arizona Republic_\3/20/93.
*** CALIFORNIA ***
MOLESTING SACRAMENTO PRIEST CODDLED. A retired priest, 78, received
no prison time, even though he pleaded no contest to charges of
sexually molesting a girl, age 7. James Monaghan must perform 120
hours' community service, undergo 5 years' probation, register as a
sex offender and continue counseling. He molested the girl, now 11,
as she sat on his lap during "counseling". Court-appointed
psychologist Shawn Johnston, apparently a Catholic, recommended
leniency: "It strikes me as a rather sad case in which an elderly
Catholic priest appears to have seriously stumbled after more than
50 years of service to his church and the community." Source: _San
Francisco Examiner_
PRIEST ALLOWED TO ABUSE CHOIRBOYS? Six choir members allege that
priest Richard T. Coughlin molested them 20-30 years ago with
impunity. Joseph Beckman, now 32, said his parents first told church
officials about Coughlin's criminal behavior in 1974, but they did
nothing. Coughlin, founder of the All-American Boys Chorus Q which
grosses $500,000 a year with 125 boys ages 8-14 and gave
performances at the Vatican Q resigned on Dec. 28. He was stripped
of all public duties as a priest and forbidden involvement with the
choir. Parents were told Coughlin had resigned for "personal
reasons", unaware of abuse claims until revealed in a _Los Angeles
Times_ story. Matthew Roehl, 27, says he and 2 other boys told the
assistant choir director in 1979 that Coughlin had made sexual
advances toward them. The priest kissed Roehl dozens of times during
choir bus rides at night as other boys slept. "I have absolutely no
recollection, I swear to the Almighty, of these charges," Coughlin
told the _LA Times_. "I certainly cannot say that I know that I did
it, because I can't recollect anything. I'm a confused and very much
destroyed man." Many choir members and colleagues insist Coughlin is
innocent, accusing the men of wanting "attention", even though the
diocese expressed "reasonable belief that there may be some
foundation to the allegations". More than 200 parents of choirboys
past and present met to express support for Coughlin, with only a
few voicing concern that complaints were suppressed. Source: _Inland
Valley Daily Bulletin_ 2/16/93, _LA Times_ 2/10&11/93, _Orange Co.
MORE PRIESTS ACCUSED BY EX-STUDENTS. Former St. Anthony's Seminary
students have accused more priests of possible sexual molestation at
the now-closed school. "We have names of other priests we're looking
into," said Geoffrey Stearns, chairman of an independent inquiry
into the scandal at the former Santa Barbara school. Just how many
priests are implicated has not been determined. The probe was
launched in January at the insistence of members of St. Anthony's
Greater Community (parish). They spoke up after 2 priests at the
seminary were accused of sexually abusing their students or members
of the school's associated Santa Barbara Boys Choir. The priests
included Philip Wolfe, who was convicted and imprisoned for 1 year
after a former student reported he forced him to perform oral sex 12
years before. And priest Robert Van Handel was accused by a former
student of forcing him to strip, undergo massage, and be
photographed, as well as having other boys strip and touching their
genitals. Van Handel was recently removed from his duties in Oakland
and sent to Maryland for psychological treatment. A third priest,
Mario Cimmarusti, who taught at the seminary in the 1960s, has also
been accused of molestation. Source: _Santa Barbara News-Press_
*** COLORADO ***
CULT LEADER GETS 16 YEARS. Fugitive religious leader James Randazzo,
convicted in 1989 of sexual exploitation of children, was sentenced
to 16 years in prison. Founder of Spiral of Friends cult, he
videotaped sex sessions with teenaged children during "therapy". His
wife Colleen is serving an 8-year prison term. Randazzo had skipped
the country, but was nabbed last fall in Hungary. Source: _Rocky
Mountain News_
*** CONNECTICUT ***
HARTFORD PRIEST SUED FOR ABUSE. A civil suit accuses a priest of
sexually abusing 3 students when he was chaplain and teacher at
Northwest Catholic High School in the 1970s. Rev. Ivan Ferguson, 58,
is not named in the suit, but the Archdiocese of Hartford and the
school are. The men accuse the priest of repeatedly molesting them
between 1975-1978. In 1991, the state legislature extended the
statute of limitations to permit victims to sue until the age of 35.
Attorney Thomas M. McNamara of New Haven said the men had not come
forward earlier "out of a sense of guilt, shame, and embarrassment,
and also because they are up against an institution like the church
- and who is to believe them over the word of a man of God?"
Ferguson, who specialized in youth ministry, joined the chaplaincy
staff of Hartford Hospital 8 years ago. He is the 4th Catholic
priest in the state to be accused since January of molesting youths:
In January a lawsuit was filed in Superior Court, Bridgeport against
Rev. Raymond S. Pcolka, 53. Fifteen adults say he raped and
sodomized them at churches in Strafford and Bridgeport between 1966-
1982. Rev. Felix H. Maguire, 66, was sued in January in New Haven by
a former parishioner of St. Therese's Church, then aged 15. Rev.
Kieran Ahearn, 55, of St. Mary Church, Bethel, was arrested by
Massachusetts police for indecent assault of a minor when he was on
a skiing vacation. He pleaded not guilty Jan. 21. Source: _Hartford
Courant_.
PCOLKA CHECKS OUT OF CHURCH TREATMENT. The Catholic Diocese of
Bridgeport "revoked the authority" of priest Raymond S. Pcolka,
accused of sexually abusing 15 young people, after he walked out of
a Catholic psychiatric institute against the advice of staff and his
bishop. The diocese says it "disclaims any responsibility" for
Pcolka "from this day forward". "It seems to me the press release is
an attempt by the diocese to reduce its liability," says T. Paul
Tremont, attorney of 13 men suing the priest. The lawsuits allege
the diocese knew Pcolka was molesting children but failed to protect
them. Source: _Hartford Courant_ 3/10/93. A Massachusetts woman
became another litigant. She says Pcolka sexually assaulted her 18
years ago when she went to him for religious instruction. Source:
_New York Times_
BOOK RECOUNTS IRISH SCANDAL. The _Sunday Times_ of London published
excerpts of a book by a Connecticut woman who had an affair with
deposed Irish bishop Eammon Casey of Galway. Casey is believed to be
in counseling with a priest-psychiatrist at the Institute of Living
in Hartford, following his resignation in May 1992 after Annie
Murphy of Ridgefield disclosed to an Irish newspaper that the
prelate was the father of her son Peter, now 18. _Hartford Courant_
\
*** ILLINOIS ***
MAYER (FINALLY) GETS 3 YEARS. The Rev. Robert E. Mayer, 53,
implicated in numerous cases of sexually abusing minors, was
sentenced to 3 years in prison for molesting a girl, 13. Four men
also testified during the trial about Mayer's advances toward them 9
years ago, when they were 13 and 14. "The evidence indicates a long
history of sexually inappropriate conduct with children and adults,"
said prosecutor Mark Cavins. "This crime was not committed on
impulse or spur of the moment." Mayer is the first priest in Cook
Co. to be sentenced to prison. He continued to maintain his
innocence, pleading for mercy: "As God is my witness, I was never
alone with the girl," Mayer told the judge. Judge Thomas Durkin
replied, "God is not your judge today." Source: _Chicago Tribune_
\
GOVERNOR WON'T COMMUTE DAVIS. Illinois Governor James Edgar rejected
a plea for executive clemency filed by the relentless Rev. L.R.
Davis, convicted child molester and pastor at Christian Fellowship
Church, Waukegan. Davis got a 31-year sentence for sexual acts with
2 teenage boys recruited into the church from Mexico. About 200
Davis supporters packed a hearing for his petition in January.
Source: [Waukegan, IL] _News Sun_ \
THREE BELLEVIEW PRIESTS REMOVED. Three priests in the Catholic
Diocese of Belleville were asked to take leaves of absence for
sexual misconduct by Bishop James Keleher. Rev. James Calhoun
resigned after allegations he had sex with a youth more than 20
years ago. Parishioners are rallying behind Rev. Robert Vonnahmen,
accused of sexual relations with a minor, more than 25 years ago.
The third priest, Rev. Jerome Ratterman, left Blessed Sacrament
Church in Belleville following a charge of misconduct 20 years ago.
The bishop say all the priests are receiving therapy, and victims
are encouraged to come forward for "professional counseling and
pastoral care". Source: _Evansville Courier_ \
PRIEST GETS 5 YEARS FOR MOLESTING BOY. The priest at St. John's
Catholic Church in Walnut, Illinois was sentenced to 3 years in
prison after pleading guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse in
Bureau Co. Toussaint J. Perron, 61, admitted abusing a boy, 14, in
August. Other sexual misconduct allegations in which the statute of
limitation had expired were introduced in court to support the
prison sentence. Perron was also priest at Immaculate Conception
Catholic Church in Ohio. Source: _Chicago Sun Times_ 2/20/93, _Quad-
City Times_
GREELEY ESTIMATES 100,000 ARE PRIEST'S VICTIMS. In an article in the
March 20 Jesuit magazine _America_, Chicago priest Andrew Greeley
estimates that 2,000-4,000 members of the U.S. priesthood have
molested young people, with victims "well in excess" of 100,000, and
cost of treatment, lawyers and liability settlements running at "$50
million a year and rising". Greeley bases this on information
released by the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. Greeley said, "An
estimate of one out of ten priests as sexual abusers might be too
high and an estimate of one out of 20 might be too low." Source:
_Boston Globe_
|
