Oklahoma man arrested for sex abuse of 8 y/o girl
By: Michael Purdy
TULSA - A 32-year-old man was arrested Monday afternoon in Tulsa for child sexual abuse.
Court record show Dante Ribeiro faces five counts of sexually abusing a child under the age of 12.
So far, not a lot of details have been released. We do know his victim is said to be an 8-year-old girl.
Tulsa World reports Ribeiro is currently being held on a $250,000 bond and he is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 4.
KRMG will follow the case as it moves through the court system.
Catholic Diocese of Charleston faces 2 new lawsuits over child sex abuse claims
By Angie Jackson ajackson@postandcourier.com
Diocese of Charleston Bishop Robert Guglielmone presides over the dedication of the Chapel of the Holy Family in 2015. The diocese is facing lawsuits from two men who alleged they were sexually abused as boys in the 1950s and 1960s. File/Wade Spees/Staff
The Catholic Diocese of Charleston faces new allegations of sexual abuse from two people who said their repressed memories of incidents from the 1950s and 1960s surfaced recently due to news reports and other litigation.
In separate lawsuits filed this month in Charleston County, two men said they were sexually abused when they were students and altar boys. They alleged that the diocese knew or should have known of the molestation, failed to protect them and concealed their abusers’ predatory behavior toward children.
In a statement, the diocese said officials have reached out to the men and offered them professional counseling. Attorneys are working on responses to both lawsuits.
The legal action comes at a time when the Catholic Church is grappling with widespread accusations of sexual misconduct following an expansive report from a grand jury in Pennsylvania.
The investigation released earlier this month found that more than 300 priests sexually abused more than 1,000 children since the 1940s. One of the priests led a church in Charleston for several years in the early 1990s after a victim came forward in Pennsylvania in the 1980s, according to the report.
A lawsuit filed Friday by attorney Lawrence Richter of Mount Pleasant stated that a victim was around the ages of 10 or 12 in the mid-1950s when he was sexually abused by Frederick Hopwood, a Charleston priest known for sex crimes who died in April 2017.
In 1994, Hopwood admitted to repeatedly molesting an altar boy in the early 1970s. He pleaded guilty to one count of a lewd act upon a minor after at least 10 men came forward with stories of abuse. As part of an agreement with prosecutors, he received statewide immunity from further prosecution.
Wow! That sounds like a sweetheart deal!
The victim in the latest lawsuit said he remembered Hopwood saying that if he told anyone about the misconduct, he and his family “would be excommunicated and they would all go to hell,” according to the suit.
Another victim represented by Richter, who filed a separate lawsuit against the diocese on Aug. 8, said his abusers also threatened him with recrimination. The suit alleged that two male teachers and youth leaders at the former Sacred Heart Catholic School, now known as Charleston Catholic School, sexually assaulted him in the late-1960s when he was around the ages of 12 to 14.
The teachers “preyed on” young boys at church properties and other locations such as beaches, according to the suit.
Memories of the abuse came back to the victim within the past two years. The other victim who said he was molested by Hopwood said he began to recall the incidents over the past few months.
“His memories were repressed; he disassociated,” the lawsuit said.
Richter could not be reached for comment.
Gregg Meyers, a Charleston-based attorney who has represented sexual abuse victims in other lawsuits against the diocese, said cases involving repressed memories are rare but recognized by South Carolina courts. He said such claims must meet specific criteria and be corroborated by a mental health professional.
Deceased Lafayette priest accused of child sex abuse
Claire Taylor, Lafayette Daily Advertiser
Allegations of child sex abuse have been raised against a deceased priest from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette.
Diocesan spokeswoman Blue Rolfes, in a written statement released Tuesday, said the diocese was made aware of allegations of sexual abuse of minors by the late Rev. Kenneth Morvant.
"There is no evidence of Father Morvant being implicated in the abuse of minors," Rolfes wrote. "These allegations, however, are being given appropriate consideration. Father Kenneth Morvant, though deceased, maintains the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise."
The alleged incidents, she wrote, occurred 35 to 40 years ago, which would have been between 1978 and 1983.
Morvant served as a priest in the Diocese of Lafayette 42 years, from 1961 until 2003. He died Dec. 13, 2003, at the age of 72 at his Carencro residence.
A native of Abbeville, Morvant was ordained June 3, 1961, at the Cathedral of St. John in Lafayette, where he served as an associate pastor until 1966, The Daily Advertiser reported upon his death.
He was pastor at several church parishes in the diocese, including Eunice, Rayne, Coteau Homes and at St. Martin de Tours church in St. Martinville.
Utah Catholic priest under investigation for
child sex abuse
Victims allege Father David Gaeta touched them inappropriately in the 1980s
By: Rick Aaron
OGDEN (News4Utah) - A Catholic priest remains on administrative leave while accusations he inappropriately touched children are investigated.
On Sunday a statement from the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City was read to the parishioners at 10 different churches where Father David Gaeta served including St. Joseph in Ogden where he was assigned from 1980 to 1984. It's during that time when the incidents allegedly happened.
When Father Gaeta was named the Pastor of St. Peter's Catholic Church in American Fork at the beginning of August, it apparently triggered some painful memories and the victims, now well into adulthood, contacted the Diocese which notified the Department of Child and Family Services and placed Gaeta on leave.
"Father Gaeta's not serving," Jean Hill of the Catholic Diocese told News4Utah on Monday. "He has been suspended from all ministry activities. He is not at the rectory. He is staying in another location and is not allowed to perform any of his duties as a priest within the Diocese."
Why would the accusers wait more than 34 years to report the incidents? Gwen Knight of Prevent Child Abuse says that 88 percent of child victims don't report...for a variety of reasons.
"Fear of not being believed, shame, several reasons like that," Knight explained. "Sometimes they use coercion or they'll threaten a child or you know make them feel they won't be believed."
Predators will often make you fell like it is your fault. Even some who find out about your abuse will make you fell like it is your fault. My uncle, who found me being abused at about age 4, chastised me for allowing this man who was in his 20s and over 6 feet tall to abuse me.
Now the Salt Lake City Diocese is attempting to walk a fine line while their Review Board, the DCFS and law enforcement evaluate the claims against Father Gaeta.
"He is denying all the allegations," Hill said. "We are going through our process to make sure that we protect both his rights and also protect the victims and make sure there's no revictimization in this process."
The statement from the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City read:
"We regret to inform you that the Diocese of Salt Lake City received allegations of sexual misconduct against Father David R. Gaeta which involved minors. Father Gaeta is the Pastor at Saint Peter Catholic Church in American Fork, Utah. He was ordained for the Diocese of Salt Lake City in 1980. He has been placed on administrative leave effective Friday, August 24, 2018, pending the outcome of the investigation by the Diocese. This matter has been reported to law enforcement, and we will cooperate with law enforcement in its investigation. If you have any information or concerns, please call Sandy Growe, Victims Assistance Coordinator, at 801-328-8641. Please continue to pray for all those impacted by this matter."
PA man accused of threatening his victim
from prior child sex abuse case
By Becky Metrick bmetrick@pennlive.com
Nearly three years after a Lebanon man was convicted of having sexual contact with a minor, he was accused of contact with the same victim, this time in a threatening manner.
South Londonderry Township Police charged Andrew Sears, 27, Sunday with intimidation, retaliation or obstruction in child abuse cases, retaliation against a victim or witness, and harassment, according to a release.
Sears was first charged with several child sex abuse crimes in December 2014 for having sexual contact with a minor. Sears was 23 at the time and the individual was 11, police said.
In October 2015, Sears was convicted of indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of a minor and intimidation of a victim or witness, police said.
Sears' sentence included incarceration and two years of probation, police said. He was also found to be a sexually violent predator by the state Sexual Offender Board, and was required to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law.
A sexually violent predator and he was out of jail while his victim was still in his mid-teens!!! That's not justice!
Police said that Sears on Sunday was driving a vehicle in Campbelltown, South Londonderry Township, where he encountered the victim of the prior case, one block from that persons's house. The unidentified victim is now 15 years old, police said.
Sears is accused of rolling down his window, threatening that person and driving away, police said. The individual reported the incident to a family member, who then contacted police.
Police found Sears leaving a church in the area, where he was parked, police said. Sears was taken into custody and transported to Lebanon County Central Booking for arraignment.
Sears was placed in Lebanon County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 bail.
UCF students plan protest after rapper charged with child sex abuse allowed to perform on campus
By: Lauren Seabrook
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Some University of Central Florida students are working to prevent a controversial rapper with a history of child sex abuse charges from performing at CFE Arena.
Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine is known for his unconventional appearance, controversial behavior and criminal record.
He's planning a show on Sept. 22 at the CFE Arena and some students hope he never sets foot on campus. The rapper's child sex case has a led to a petition and a planned protest.
So far students’ efforts to have the concert canceled have failed.
Student Noemi Teutsch hopes to see more people outside than fans inside when Tekashi 6ix9ine performs. “People are just as outraged as I am, if not more," she said.
Obviously, rap fans are not!
She started a petition, which has surpassed 5,000 signatures, asking UCF to cancel the concert. "Universities are supposed to be upholding certain moral standards and certain values,” said Teutsch.
In 2015, the rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, was charged for his part in making a sexually explicit video with a 13-year-old girl and posting the video on social media.
In a deal with the state of New York, he pleaded guilty to a felony of use of a child in a sexual performance.
Plea deals... aren't they wonderful?
"I just can't believe someone like this would be considered on a university campus to perform," said Teutsch.
UCF officials said in a statement, "Outside performers can rent the space. However, that does not mean that the university endorses them. At all times, the safety of our campus is our top priority."
You may not endorse them but you certainly are making a statement that you are not at all concerned with their values or lack thereof.
Spectra manages the area.
"As far as I'm concerned, they are endorsing, and they are condoning his behavior because they're allowing him to come on campus to perform," said Teutsch.
Teutsch hopes UCF cancels Tekashi 6ix9ine before it comes to a protest. She worries allowing the show to go on normalizes his behavior. "I honestly think it's ridiculous. It makes no sense whatsoever. Because at some point, you have to draw the line somewhere," said Teutsch.
The rapper will be sentenced Oct. 1, which means he could be going to prison nine days after performing at UCF.
Controversy also followed the rapper recently overseas when he wasn’t allowed to perform in Manchester due to his criminal record.
He has not run into any problems in any other countries.
Nuns at Vermont Catholic orphanage accused of sexual abuse, child torture and even murder
The home closed down in 1974, and the shocking allegations involve vulnerable young kids who lived there from the 1930s through to the 1970s
By Jon Lockett
HORROR stories of torture and murder have resurfaced following a lengthy investigation into historic abuse at a Catholic orphanage in the States.
St Joseph's in Burlington, Vermont, shut its doors in 1974, and the shocking allegations involve vulnerable young kids who lived there from the 1930s through to the 1970s.
An unidentified nun with young boys at St. Joseph's orphanage
The new four-year probe by BuzzFeed News exposes the full-scale of the alleged abuse suffered by those at the home, run by the Montreal-based Sisters of Providence.
Official public documents and witness interviews are said to back-up many of the horrific claims made by the orphanage's former residents.
Sally Dale spent 21 years at St. Joseph's, which is just south of the Canadian border, after being sent there aged just two.
In 1996, she gave a lengthy legal statement telling of alleged abuse - including claims she once saw a nun throw a boy to his death from a window.
The orphanage was run by the Sisters of Providence until it shut down in 1974
Dale - who is now dead - claimed she was about six when she saw a young boy plummet out of a window, with a nun leaning out behind him. "And he kind of hit and - I guess you'd call it, it was a bounce. And then he laid still,'" claimed Dale.
She then told how the nun she was walking with at the time hauled her away and told her she'd just imagined what she'd seen.
Dale also claimed she had once been forced by a nun to kiss the badly burned and disfigured corpse of a boy who had been electrocuted.
A graphic T-shirt made by one of the orphanage's former residents
The property was recently purchased by a developer, which has converted it upscale condos
Dale was one of about 100 former residents of St. Joseph's who filed suits against the Catholic Church in the 1990s.
Joseph Eskra, who spent time at the orphanage in the 1950s and early 1960s, told how one boy who failed to turn up at dinner was later found tied to a tree - frozen to death.
Other stories included claims of horrible beatings, cruel punishments, torture with fire and sexual abuse at the hands of the nuns.
Three women recalled that a girl was once placed face down over a desk and beaten with a wooden paddle. One said the nun had started out hitting the girl with a piece of wood two or three feet long, but it broke, and that’s when she reached for the paddle.
Video 9:14 - Caution, may trigger PTSD
Eventually the handle of the paddle snapped, so she got another and used that one until she was finished. “You could always tell when they were done,” one woman explained, “because the last one was the hardest.”
Those that witnessed the beatings were told if they ever mentioned the incidents they would never see their parents again.
Graffiti written on a wall in the grounds of the former orphanage
The abandoned chapel of St Joseph's Orphanage in Vermont
However, Dale's high-profile claims, and those by other former residents, were dismissed by the courts. Other litigants settled with the Church for as little as £3,000.
From 1935 until the orphanage closed in 1974, five of the eight priests who ran it were also accused of sexual abuse, according to documents that later emerged in other litigation.
The Diocese of Burlington, Vermont Catholic Charities and the Sisters of Providence has declined to comment on the allegations.
However Monsignor John McDermott, of the Burlington Diocese, gave BuzzFeed the following statement: "The Diocese treats allegations of child abuse seriously and procedures are in place for reporting to the proper authorities."
Whoopee! That should make everyone feel better!
Sexual abuse of child charges filed against 18 y/o man
CHATHAM, Ill. (WAND) – A Chatham man is accused of sexually abusing at least one underage person.
Court records show Michael Ford, 18, is facing three charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim between the ages of 13 and 18, along with another three counts of criminal sexual abuse.
Chatham police command officers were not immediately available to comment on the case Tuesday night.
Ford is out of jail after posting 10 percent of his $100,000 bond in Sangamon County. He is scheduled to first appear in court on Sept. 27.
Trial begins for Texas man accused of
sexual abuse of a child
LAREDO, TX (KGNS) - The trial of a man accused of sexually abusing a child, started early Tuesday morning.
48-year-old Kayro Moreno is accused of sexually abusing a child for a period of two years.
Moreno is facing numerous charges that include indecency with a child by contact and aggravated sexual assault.
The victim, in this case, testified about the encounters she had with Moreno. She testified not knowing how many times he sexually abused her, which according to her started when she was 8 years of age.
The victim's mother also testified about her relationship with Moreno.
The trial will start on Tuesday morning against Moreno in the 406th district court.
D.C. police investigating child sex abuse allegations at Jewish preschool
by Stephen Tschida/ABC7
WASHINGTON, D.C. police are investigating allegations of child sex abuse at a Jewish preschool.
The Washington Hebrew Congregation sent a letter to parents on Aug. 19 following the Aug. 15 allegations. It said it put the employee, the apparent subject of the accusation, on administrative leave over allegations that they “may have engaged in inappropriate conduct involving one or more children.”
A D.C. police report said the alleged abuse occurred between September 2017 and August 2018.
“We are deeply troubled by the allegations and are addressing them utilizing internal and external resources. Likewise, we are working closely with the affected families to provide information, counseling and support,” the first letter said.
The congregation then sent a second letter detailing how it is changing procedures in the aftermath of the alleged abuse.
“Staff members will be added to ensure that children are supervised by at least two teachers at all times,” the second letter said.
Sexual abuse cases involving three teachers costs Redlands school district more than $15 million
Richard Winton
The Redlands Unified School District has agreed to settlements totaling $15.7 million in connection with lawsuits involving three teachers accused of molesting eight former students.
The large settlement for the district of 21,000 students comes after repeated allegations that school officials failed to alert authorities of suspected sexual abuse by staff of students. The settlements include more than $7 million for one of six victims of Redlands High School math teacher Kevin Patrick Kirkland.
Last year Kirkland pleaded guilty to eight felonies and three misdemeanors for sexually abusing four female students from May 2015 to May 2016. He was sentenced to two years in prison but served only 13 months.
According to attorneys, that single payout to Kirkland’s victim is the largest pre-trial settlement involving a sex abuse allegation against an educator.
The school district and its insurer in recent years had previously paid out more than $6.5 million to settle claims that students were sexually abused by their teachers, including $6 million for a high school boy who fathered his teacher's baby.
According to the suit, Kirkland engaged in sexual acts with dozens of students while administrators dissuaded victims from reporting his actions.
An administrator told one student in 2012 that Kirkland would be disciplined as long as she "did not go to the press," according to the lawsuit in San Bernardino County Superior Court. The suit alleges district officials knew of problems with Kirkland dating to 2006. In 2016, the district tried to dissuade a student from reporting the assault to police, according to the suit.
“The size of this settlement reflects the immense harm done to our clients and the continuing failure of the Redlands Unified School District to protect students from sexual predators. We have eight perpetrators at Redlands High School in a 10-year period who have been preying upon the students unabated,” said Morgan Stewart, an attorney who handled the cases. ”The administration in charge was the same during each of these incidents, which is telling.”
Stewart on Tuesday said the state and the federal governments need to investigate the district’s conduct and its years of cover-ups and failure to act on reports.
He said Kirkland, 59, targeted the most vulnerable as a special-needs math teacher by using treats and tricks to groom students.
The school district responded to the announcement in a statement, saying, “We hope that this settlement provides a sense of closure and healing for the victims and enables our District to move forward. Regrettably, Redlands Unified is unable to erase the repugnant actions of these individuals.”
The district said it would act swiftly on any child abuse actions and had retained a top expert on the issue to advise and train staff.
The settlement costs will mostly be borne by the district’s insurer, a school district joint powers authority. Redlands Unified itself is required to pay $383,330.
The settlements also include one for a student who in a lawsuit alleged she was sexually abused as a 15- and 16-year-old by former English teacher Brian Townsley in 2008. Prosecutors opted to not charge Townsley with “annoying or molesting” a child in 2008. The girl had initially denied being abused by the teacher.
Another former student who received a settlement alleged Daniel Bachman, a former Redlands High theater technician, had sex with her as a minor from 2011 to 2013. Redlands police investigated Bachman, who was in his early 20s at the time. During the August 2015 interview he admitted to having had sexual intercourse with the student, according to a police report filed in the lawsuit. But the San Bernardino County district attorney's office declined to charge him, citing insufficient evidence.
He confessed, and there was insufficient evidence? Seriously? San Bernardino County needs a new DA!
Stewart said the significant sums for the settlements are in part because of a failure by administrators to investigate reports of sexual abuse. He also notes that outgoing Dist. Atty. Mike Ramos once served on the school board and that his office has not charged administrators whom police officers believe did not handle the allegations appropriately.
After Laura Whitehurst, a teacher at Redlands and Citrus Valley high schools, was convicted in 2013 for having sex with three boys, including one who was the father of her child, Redlands police referred two administrators for prosecution.
The district attorney’s office declined to charge neither the then-Citrus High principal nor the human resources chief with failing to report allegations of child abuse under a state-mandated reporter law.
So, did I mention San Bernardino county is in need of a new DA.
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