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ALBANY — An Albany area rabbi has been arrested on sex abuse charges stemming from alleged incidents involving a 13-year-old boy.Albany police detectives arrested Yaakov Weiss, 28, of Loudonville Monday and charged him with two counts of third-degree sex abuse and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, all misdemeanors.Details pertaining to the case were not immediately available, but Albany police spokesman Det. James Miller said the charges have to do with Weiss' alleged involvement with the boy on at least two occasions — one in November 2007 and the other earlier this year.The arrest was part of...

Moroccans and rights groups are speaking out against a recent fatwa that would allow parents to marry off their underage daughters. Opponents to Cheikh Mohammed Maghraoui's fatwa say the marriage of nine-year-old girls is a violation of human rights in general, and children's rights in particular. Maghraoui said that at the age of nine, girls are capable of marriage, just like Aisha was when the Prophet Mohammed married her. "We thought we were rid of those problems after the passage of the family code, which included a number of guarantees to protect children from early marriage, and after setting up...

A San Francisco radio host billed by his station as the "Lion of the Left" was sentenced yesterday to seven years of prison on a charge of e-mailing images of child pornography. Bernie Ward, a former Catholic priest who is now married with four children, hosted a Sunday radio program called "God Talk" on San Francisco-area radio station KGO-AM 810 and another program on weeknights devoted to news and politics. According to several reports, Ward earned his "Lion of the Left" nickname for his outspoken and staunchly liberal viewpoints. Ward came under FBI investigation last year after a woman with...

SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI expressed his deep sorrow for the suffering of sexual abuse victims during his homily at Mass with Australian clergy. Departing from his prepared homily during the Saturday liturgy at St. Mary's Cathedral, the Pope said, "Indeed, I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured, and I assure them that as their pastor, I too share in their suffering." The Pontiff's prepared speech addressed acknowledge "the shame which we have all felt as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and religious in this...

The father of a Florida girl abducted and buried alive in a trash bag by a sex offender has blasted a Massachusetts politician who said he'd have to torment young victims on the witness stand if mandatory sentences for offenders passed the state Legislature. Mark Lunsford, whose 9-year-old daughter died in 2005, told the Boston Herald that Rep. James Fagan, a defense attorney, should take the rights of victimized children seriously. “Why doesn’t he figure out a way to defend that child and put these kind of people away instead of trying to figure ways for defense attorneys to get...

By now, many of you have seen the outrageous comments of Massachusetts State Representative James Fagan, a Democrat. In defending a child rapist, he would tear apart the child on the stand and ruin the child's life forever. He made the comments arrogantly and shamelessly. Watch it here. FAGAN'S WEBSITE SHOWS HOW IS INVOLVED IN SEVERAL CHILDREN'S ORGANIZATIONS. ORGANIZATIONS: Massachusetts Academy of Trial Lawyers; Taunton Boys & Girls Club (Board of Directors); Taunton Little League; Taunton Youth Basketball Coach; Massachusetts Bar Foundation; Massachusetts Waterfowlers, Inc.; Babe Ruth League; High School Umpire; Bristol Ducks Unlimited; Southeastern New England Area Boys' Clubs...

ORLANDO, Fla. (CNS) -- Opening their spring general meeting in Orlando, members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops got an interim report on the causes and context of child sexual abuse by priests and made quick work of proposals to revisit the ethical guidelines on feeding tubes and to declare a National Catholic Charities Sunday in 2010. In the first morning session of the June 12-14 assembly at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, the bishops also took a preliminary look at two documents they will vote on later in the meeting. The first was a 700-page draft translation of...

A former pastor at Plano’s Prestonwood Baptist Church now faces six more counts of online solicitation of a minor, authorities said. Joe Barron was first arrested by the Bryan Police Department last month after he tried to meet with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl for sex, authorities said. The two had communicated online. Mr. Barron was charged with one count of online solicition of a minor. He later posted $7,000 bail and was released. He was arrested again Wednesday afternoon and faces four additional counts of online solicitation from the Bryan Police Department and two additional...

Blessed with a nest egg of nearly $1.5 million, a Woodland Hills parish donated almost all of it, leaving just $1,000 in its savings account. An Encino church offered a $100,000 interest-free loan. And a Boyle Heights parish decided it could spare $500 after ruling out the idea of raising money with tamale sales. With gifts large and small, parishes across the sprawling Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles are answering an appeal from Cardinal Roger M. Mahony to help the archdiocese dig out of the financial hole resulting from its multimillion-dollar legal settlements with victims of clergy sexual abuse...

CANON CITY, Colo. -- A Kent man who is an associate professor at Seattle University was arrested in connection with a variety of child sex crimes on Monday in Colorado, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News. Police said the arrest of Major Andrew Douglas Franz, 41, stemmed from an undercover Internet investigation by the Fremont County Combined Investigative Response Team. Police said Franz traveled from Washington to Fremont County in Colorado for the purpose of having sex with an underage girl. ...

Hynes’ office dissuaded families ready to let their children testify about alleged abuse. Questions about Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes’ willingness to press cases in the Orthodox community are now being reignited. by Hella Winston and Larry Cohler-Esses In a surprise move, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, the Brooklyn yeshiva teacher charged with having sexually molested his students, pleaded guilty Monday to two lesser counts of child endangerment and was sentenced to three years’ probation. Under the plea agreement, Rabbi Kolko, 62, made no admission of sexual wrongdoing. He will not have to register as a sex offender, and pleaded guilty only to...

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...

EthicsDaily.com reported 11 arrests, three convictions, two lawsuits and one suicide involving alleged sexual abuse by clergy in 2007.Other stories included a church that allowed a convicted sex offender to preach from its pulpit while knowing about his past and comments by the president of the Southern Baptist Convention denying clergy predators are a "systemic" problem and accusing victim advocates of using the issue for personal gain. Those stories were part of ongoing coverage of efforts by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests to pressure the 16.3 million-member convention to establish an independent review board for clergy sex...

A Canadian man who sexually abused his 4-year-old daughter live on the Internet so another man could watch was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison.The father, whose name was not released to protect the identity of his daughter, was arrested in October 2006, just hours after he used a Webcam to expose his daughter to another man — who was actually an undercover police officer — during a chat room conversation. The father from St. Thomas, Ontario, pleaded guilty in October to seven criminal charges.In sentencing him, Justice John McGarry called it a "gross case; a sickening case of...

BLOOMINGTON -- A former minister and substitute teacher accused of sexually abusing teenage boys won’t go to trial in December because of a defense move to try to get concurrent sentences if he is convicted in state and federal courts. Defense attorney Steve Skelton asked that the state trial of James Love be delayed because of federal child pornography charges pending in Peoria. He said his client has a better chance of receiving a concurrent sentence if he pleads or is found guilty on the local charges after the federal trial, rather than before. The state charges say he sedated...

NEW YORK — When the Associated Press set out to investigate an apparent problem with sexual assault of children in public schools, the organization spared no expense. A congressionally mandated study by Hofstra University had already found school-based sexual abuse to be a big problem. “It was one of our priorities for the year,” said John Affleck, editor of the AP’s national reporting team.The result was a three-part series, available to editors throughout the country beginning Oct. 20, that revealed widespread and routine sexual assault of public school students throughout the country. The first story summarized: “Students in America’s schools...

The Rev. Robert Gray, the former Trinity Baptist Church pastor awaiting trial on child molestation charges, died Saturday, according to his attorney. He was 81. Gray had been hospitalized since mid-October and suffered from a variety of health problems. An exact cause of death was not available Saturday. Attorney David Barksdale, who represented Gray, released a statement saying Gray's family prays that everyone involved in the court cases can find peace and that the family would not comment further on Gray's passing. This month, a judge ruled Gray was too ill to stand trial Tuesday on six counts of capital...

Gone are the days when Jesuit priests were virile men who fully embraced the Catholic Faith and prayed to be worthy of a martyr's crown. Let's play "compare and contrast", shall we? First, here's a tale from the 1640s in the upstate New York wilderness:He [Fr. Isaac Jogues] did not yet know the cause of his companion's [Rene Goupil] death; but the old man who had caused him to be slain having invited him, some days later, to his cabin, and giving him food, when the Father came to offer the blessing and express the sign of the Cross, that...

Johannesburg-The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy has brought in an elite team of professional investigators from America to probe claims of abuse by an employee, the school told News 24 on Thursday. "We have engaged professional investigators of the highest standing from South Africa and the United States to conduct a fair and impartial inquiry into these claims," said school CEO John Samuel. Provincial co-ordinator of the police units investigating child abuse, superintendent Andre' Neethling, met with the team which included a retired Chicago policeman. The academy also provided psychological support and counseling services to pupils, following the scandal at the...

Child abuse has gone unchecked in the Church of England for decades amid a cover up by bishops, secret papers have revealed. Information that could have prevented abuse has been "lost or damaged", concerns about individuals have been ignored and allegations have not been recorded. It means that the Church has no idea how many paedophiles are in its midst. Lawyers warned last night that the Church faces a crisis as catastrophic as the one that engulfed the Roman Catholic Church and cost it millions of pounds in damages. Richard Scorer, a solicitor who has specialised in child abuse cases,...

More than 1,600 teaching licenses were revoked because of sexual-misconduct accusations from 2001 to 2005, but none came from the District, according to an Associated Press investigation. D.C. officials did not revoke the certification of a single teacher during that time, no matter how serious the crime. For example, Brandon C. Jones, a former gym teacher at Backus Middle School, was accused of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student and entered an Alford plea in 2004 to a third-degree sexual offense for arranging an encounter with her at a Laurel hotel. Although treated the same as a guilty...

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - A lawsuit filed against the Mormon Church and the Boy Scouts of America expanded on Wednesday to include four more men charging the organizations with ignoring sex abuses committed decades ago by a man who served as a church teacher and a scout leader. The six men, who filed a new lawsuit in Oregon state Circuit Court in Multnomah County, allege that Timur Dykes, a former spiritual leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and former scout leader, repeatedly abused them when they were boys. Dykes, a convicted sex offender, is listed on...

Sydney - An Australian Roman Catholic who considers himself the rightful pope and claims to communicate with the Virgin Mary once a month was jailed on Friday for having sex with an underage girl in the cult community he led. Self-proclaimed prophet William Kamm, who received a six-year sentence, showed the girl letters he said were from the Virgin Mary that blessed their union. The 56-year-old, who is already serving a term for a similar offence, told the girl she was chosen by the Virgin Mary to help him populate the earth with his "mystical seed". The abuse began when...

Rome, Aug 7, 2007 / 12:04 pm (CNA).- Popular Italian priest Fr. Pierino Gelmini, 82, said this week he forgives the drug addicts who were expelled from his institution and accused him of “sexual abuse” as a way to take revenge and demand money from him. Fr. Gelmini, founder of the “Incontro” community, which has been a successful drug-rehabilitation center, was recently investigated for sexual abuse after accusations were made against him for the first time in his more than fifty years of priestly service. He cooperated fully with investigators and revealed that he had been receiving repeated phone calls...

Homosexual Clergy Mainly Responsible For Sex Abuse Scandals Contact: Phil Magnan, President, Biblical Family Advocates, 619-962-0659 phil@bfamilyadvocates.com SAN DIEGO, July 18 /Christian Newswire/ -- There has been many national news accounts over the past few years regarding the sex abuse scandals within the Catholic Church. Most recently according to the Associated Press, "The nation's largest Catholic archdiocese has settled its abuse cases for $660 million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal." What is not being reported by the news media is that the majority of those who were sexually abused across the nation were most...

Settlement spares Mahony from testifying before a jury about his role in concealment and cover-up of sexual abuse By Peter J. Smith LOS ANGELES, July 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Los Angeles Archdiocese has agreed to pay out $660 million to over 500 victims of sexual abuse by priests and religious - a colossal price to pay for a long history of infidelity to Catholic teachings within the archdiocese. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Haley Fromholz finalized today's deal, which ends more than five years of negotiations and amounts to the largest payout by any diocese since the sex...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The three companies that insure the majority of Protestant churches in America say they typically receive upward of 260 reports each year of young people under 18 being sexually abused by clergy, church staff, volunteers or congregation members. The figures released to The Associated Press offer a glimpse into what has long been an extremely difficult phenomenon to pin down — the frequency of sex abuse in Protestant congregations. Religious groups and victims' supporters have been keenly interested in the figure ever since the Roman Catholic sex abuse crisis hit five years ago. The church has revealed...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The three companies that insure the majority of Protestant churches in America say they typically receive upward of 260 reports each year of young people under 18 being sexually abused by clergy, church staff, volunteers or congregation members. The figures offer a glimpse into what has long been an extremely difficult phenomenon to pin down -- the frequency of sex abuse in Protestant congregations. Religious groups and victims' supporters have been interested in the figure ever since the Roman Catholic sex abuse crisis hit five years ago. The church has revealed that there have been 13,000 credible...

It is estimated that half of registered sex offenders are churchgoers. So when the convicted finish serving time in jail, they want to head back to the pews. A lot of churches, however, are not ready to open their doors to the former criminals. "I believe churchgoers are fearful and confused. Most churchgoers would agree that Jesus saves all sinners including sex offenders, but fear the offenders attending their church," said Greg Sporer, co-founder of Keeping Kids Safe Ministries. "Churches are not prepared for offenders." Sporer serves as a prison therapist working in sex offender treatment programs and studying research....

Page says '20/20' segment one-sided By Staff Apr 16, 2007 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Much is being done and more can be done to protect children from sexual predators within Southern Baptist churches, but an ABC News "20/20" segment on the issue April 13 amounted to "yellow journalism," SBC President Frank Page says. The segment focused on child sexual predators within Protestant churches, focusing on 10-20 occurrences within Southern Baptists' 40,000 churches. In introducing the 16-minute segment, 20/20's Elizabeth Vargas said, "What surprised us ... is how little is being done to stop it." ABC's Jim Avila used the term "preacher...

ARLINGTON, TX -- With increasing national attention on Baptist churches' problems with clergy sex abuse, two prominent pastors have said they intend to push for more comprehensive ways to address the problem in the 16-million member Southern Baptist Convention. Oklahoma pastor Wade Burleson and Texas pastor Benjamin Cole intend to present a motion and resolution regarding the abuse problem at the annual SBC meeting, set for June 12 and 13 in San Antonio, Texas. The two have gained convention-wide attention in the past year for their blog-driven efforts to reform the denomination. Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid,...

(Costs, including dioceses' settlement payouts, drop 15%) New York - For the second consecutive year, the number of clergy sex abuse claims received by the nation's Roman Catholic bishops and religious orders has dropped, according to a new report on the church's child protection reforms. The vast majority of allegations date back decades. Costs related to abuse cases also decreased - by about 15% over the past year - mainly because of a decline in what dioceses paid to settle molestation cases. The findings, released Wednesday, are part of an annual review that the bishops first commissioned in 2002 to...

TAYLORS, S.C. (BP)--Several days ago, I was interviewed by ABC's "20/20" news for an upcoming program tentatively titled, "Preacher Predators." At the request of several, I agreed to this invitation so as to provide some kind of balance to a program which may well be overwhelmingly negative. There has been a great deal of attention given to this subject in recent days. As I said to the reporter, we are willing and able to discuss this issue because even one instance of sexual abuse by a minister is too much. While I do not believe the problem is systemic and...

The clergy sexual abuse statistics were staggering. Local reports from angry, hurt and humiliated laypeople were too horrifying to ignore. So the assembled church leaders decided that they had to say something, they had to call for some kind of action because they were facing a nasty moral crisis. "We encourage those religious bodies dealing with the tragedy of clergy abuse in their efforts to rid their ranks of predatory ministers," said their June 12 resolution. "We call on civil authorities to punish to the fullest extent of the law sexual abuse among clergy and counselors. ... "We call on...

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, both already under siege for other matters, are now being accused of failing to prosecute officers of the Texas Youth Commission after a Texas Ranger investigation documented that guards and administrators were sexually abusing the institution's minor boy inmates. Among the charges in the Texas Ranger report were that administrators would rouse boys from their sleep for the purpose of conducting all-night sex parties.

Girls' retractions don't halt sex charges Story Published: Mar 20, 2007 at 8:00 PM PST Story Updated: Mar 21, 2007 at 12:58 PM PST By Bob Heye and KATU Web Staff MCMINNVILLE, Ore. - Newly released court transcripts in the case of two McMinnville boys facing sex abuse charges detail how two of the alleged victims recanted their claims. The boys, Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison, face the equivalent of felony sex abuse charges. In court, Yamhill County authorities have said their investigation showed the boys, ages 12 and 13, slapped female classmates on their buttocks numerous times over...

RENO, Nev. — A Lutheran congregation is grappling with how to deal with a convicted sex offender who says his church attendance is an important step toward rehabilitation. Clergy and members at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd say they're in a quandary over how to protect their children while following in Christ's footsteps by welcoming a stranger. "Clearly, we are called to love," said the Rev. Rebecca Schlatter, associate pastor. "But is it safe to love this particular person up close?" The church has offered a covenant of 17 conditions to Calvin Brugge, who says he will sign it....

Alleged Sexual Assault Occurred In Library Bathroom SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A Sacramento church pastor was arrested Friday, accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in a library bathroom. Fredrick Drew, 34, of the Praise Tabernacle Church, was booked on charges of sexual assault on a child and false imprisonment. Sacramento Police say a 13-year-old boy was assaulted on Thursday afternoon inside a bathroom at Martin Luther King Jr. Library on 24th Street. A security guard at the library told KCRA 3 that the boy reported what happened right away. "He was crying and he told me that a man tried...

A 41-year-old Redding man charged with molesting a 12-year-old girl told investigators the child was his girlfriend and he loved her, court records show. [snip] After spending hours on the telephone wooing the girl, the relationship heated up around Christmas and Hakmiller arrived at the girl's home, police said. She introduced him to her parents, who apparently believed he was much younger, and on Christmas Eve he took her to an arcade and an Upland motel, the documents alleged. Hakmiller and the girl allegedly had sexual contact and he bought her makeup and lingerie for a second day together at...

Shocking developments concerning a man who claimed he was sexually assaulted by a catholic priest. Tom Monroe, 53, organized a news conference more than a year ago to announce with his attorney a lawsuit against the Pueblo Catholic Diocese. Monroe claimed he was sexually assaulted by Marianist Brother William Mueller while attending the former Roncalli Catholic High School. But Monroe's attorney has now announced that Monroe's been dropped him from the lawsuit. News First obtained several hours of home video that Monroe made, and on one tape he appears to be talking on the phone and admits he's not a...

The first statement Pope Leo X made after being elected to the papacy, according to the Venetian ambassador, was “Now that God has given us the papacy, let us enjoy it.” That was the attitude of many Roman Catholic Popes, and on Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther picked up his hammer and nail and drove his point into the church door at Wittenberg and into the heart of the Roman Church. Then began the Reformation although there were stirrings of reform many years earlier with Wycliffe, Tyndale, Knox, Calvin, etc., who responded to Catholic heresy and gross immorality in the...

LEE COUNTY: A church youth leader accused of repeated sexual assaults on two teenage boys now has a $300,000 bond after his first court appearance. The judge ordered a mental health evaluation and ordered him not to have contact with minors if he bonds out of jail. NBC2 spoke to a woman who knows Elantonio "T.O." Gomez and the boys. It's a story one woman says will haunt her for a long time - a story she says leaves her so heart-broken, she only agreed to talk if she could remain anonymous. She fears if her name or face were...

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- The victims' advocates who dogged the Roman Catholic Church over sex abuse by its clergy have now turned their attention to the Southern Baptists, accusing America's largest Protestant denomination of also failing to root out molesters. The Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has started a campaign to call attention to alleged sex abuse committed by Southern Baptist ministers and concealed by churches. SNAP presented a letter Monday to Southern Baptist Convention executive committee members in Nashville, asking the group to adopt a zero-tolerance policy on sex abuse and to create an independent review...

A national support group formed amid the Catholic Church's cover-up of abusive priests planned today to canvass members of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee seeking action to protect children against sexual predators posing as Baptist ministers. "No one wants to see a repeat of the Catholic sex-abuse and cover-up scandal, but unless Southern Baptists start dealing with the problem effectively and compassionately, that may happen," said Christa Brown of Austin, Texas. Brown runs a Web site called StopBaptistPredators.org. It contains numerous documented stories of abuse--including her own account of being sexually assaulted by a minister at the Southern Baptist...

City teachers, principals and other school workers were accused of more crimes by school investigators in 2006 than in any recent year, a new report shows. Of the 259 allegations that special schools investigator Richard Condon leveled at school employees last year, he turned a record-high 101 cases over to federal or state prosecutors for possible criminal probes. That's up 68% from 2005, when only 60 cases were referred to prosectors and higher than any year since Condon's office started keeping track in 2002. Among alleged wrongdoers was a middle school math teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year-old...

U.S. sex offender ordered deported from Canada Toronto red Star Monday, December 18, 2006 Canadian Press NIAGARA FALLS – An American teacher who set off a political firestorm when he was allowed to come to Canada to serve his sentence for sex offences committed in Buffalo, N.Y., was ordered deported today. Malcolm Watson was in a position of trust and authority over the 15-year-old female victim, which is a criminal offence in Canada, Immigration and Refugee Board member Liz Lasowski ruled at an admissibility hearing. "I find there is evidence that the act Mr. Watson committed . . ....

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has reiterated his commitment to "zero tolerance" of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers. Speaking at a high-level conference on the issue, Mr Annan said nobody should be above the law. He said the UN was working on a binding treaty on the prosecution of sexual abuse committed by peacekeepers. The UN says about 80% of 100,000 people serving in its peacekeeping operations cannot be disciplined by it. The conference comes a week after a BBC report highlighted claims of children being subjected to rape and prostitution by UN peacekeepers in Haiti and...

professionals recommended the U.S. bishops "rescind the safe-environment mandate as it applies to children and adolescents and discontinue all child-empowerment programs for preventing child sexual abuse." http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52716

Grave questions about bishops' child-abuse prevention... Professionals recommended the U.S. bishops "rescind the safe-environment mandate as it applies to children and adolescents and discontinue all child-empowerment programs for preventing child sexual abuse."

Popular prevention programs adopted by U.S. Catholic bishops in the wake of the sex-abuse scandal that embroiled the Catholic Church in the United States should be abandoned as ineffective and possibly injurious, conclude medical experts.