Whitefriars College, Melbourne, settles lawsuit after Year 7 student allegedly raped in toilets
One Survivor's Story
Caution graphic details below
ABC Radio Melbourne By Matilda Marozzi
A Catholic boys school in Melbourne's east has settled a case with a former student after he was allegedly raped by an older student in the school's toilets when he was 12.
Whitefriars Catholic College for Boys reached the confidential settlement with father Trevor Pyman on behalf of his son Jonah.
Jonah sued the school for negligence and alleged he was raped by a Year 12 student in 2013.
The family had argued that the school's negligence led to Jonah suffering psychological injury including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Jonah is one of two students whose families have told the ABC they reported concerns to the school that the same Year 12 student was grooming their child.
Whitefriars College declined to answer detailed questions about the incident, including a request for information on whether it had made any changes to its policies on protecting students.
Jonah claimed the assault occurred during production week of the school musical Oliver, when the Year 12 student, Tony*, led him to the school toilets and raped him.
Advice from mental health professionals suggests the alleged rape and other bullying Jonah experienced at Whitefriars caused him serious psychological damage, leading him to develop borderline personality traits and complex PTSD.
'He would show me things on his phone'
Jonah's mother, Imbi Pyman, said she only learnt about the alleged attack after her son disclosed it to a mental health professional following a suicide attempt in 2015.
"I think he may have used the words at that time that it was consensual, but he says he remembers crying throughout," she said.
The family spoke to police but decided against pressing for criminal charges, fearing a police investigation and prosecution could damage their son's already fragile mental health.
Jonah Pyman sued Whitefriars Catholic College for negligence.
(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
If you or anyone you know needs help:
Lifeline on 13 11 14
Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
Headspace on 1800 650 890
ReachOut at au.reachout.com
Tony met Jonah during the school musical rehearsals, when it was alleged he talked to him about sex and sexuality, before initiating "physical interactions" with Jonah "backstage, in the toilets, during rehearsal breaks".
"It started with this older student bringing me to the back of the bus … he would show me things on his phone," Jonah said.
"I started to learn about things like pornography. Boys who liked other boys, boys who liked girls and how they're different and what they should do and how they act."
Parents 'immediately' went to school
Outside school hours, Tony — who was at least five years older than Jonah — allegedly groomed him through the online instant messaging app, Kik.
Messages seen by the ABC show Tony sending persistent messages to Jonah, telling him "I f***ing love you" and inviting him out to parties.
Ms Pyman and her husband Trevor found the messages on Jonah's phone in October 2013 and immediately alerted the school.
"When we spoke to the psychologist and said 'there's this other young man and these are the messages', it was quickly brought to our attention that that was classic grooming," Ms Pyman said.
"We immediately went to the school with our concerns … [and were given] a very ordinary response in terms of the grooming behaviour."
The college allowed Tony to continue studying on campus until he finished his Year 12 exams, on the condition that he stayed away from younger students, including Jonah.
Despite this, Tony continued to talk to Jonah and at least one other Year 7 student, both at school and on the Kik messenger app.
Second boy allegedly groomed
That other student, Paul*, told the ABC he was also groomed by Tony after they met during rehearsals for Oliver.
"At the start it was just normal friends stuff," Paul said.
"But [there was] inappropriate behaviour. I remember he would always just be walking past and just like grab your stuff [genitals]."
During the later half of 2013, Paul said he received persistent messages from Tony on Kik.
Jonah Pyman's parents, Trevor and Imbi, are worried a police investigation would damage his mental health.
(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
TONY: Ok one last question...
Do you get hard over guys?
Do you get hard over girls?
I am so proud of you Paul. Like seriously!
You are so strong and brave and...
I love you <3 Chin up buddy!
PAUL: Thanks
And I don't over guys But I do over girls :/
When the messages were discovered by Paul's parents, they organised to have a meeting with the school.
TONY: I reckon you don't want coz of your parents (just tell em u r seeing friends from primary school or something) or cos u think im gonna rape you or something idk! You won't tell me why
Don't get the wrong impression! Im just saying eastland so we have somewhere to talk face to face coz I don't really want to talk at school or on here
PAUL: I HAVE PLANS THIS WEEKEND!!! Ok?
Paul's mother, who also does not want to be identified, said she was "stunned" when the school told her that Tony would remain on campus.
"Grooming wasn't illegal then, and so the school's reaction in the meeting was that Paul, 13 years old, was a naughty student and shouldn't have been messaging," she said.
Grooming a child under 16 became a criminal offence in Victoria in 2014, after it was recommended by the state's inquiry into institutional handling of child sexual abuse.
Paul's parents considered taking out an intervention order against Tony, but were convinced by the school that they could handle the situation without police involvement.
Paul alleged bullying at the school was detrimental his mental health. He struggled with depression and anxiety while he was at Whitefriars, at times self-harming and feeling suicidal.
Ms Pyman said she hoped telling her son Jonah's story would help raise awareness about the risks of grooming at schools and help keep students safe.
"To parents I would say just dig deeper, believe your child," she said. "It could happen to anybody, basically, and it happened to us."
*Some names have been changed for legal reasons.
Former altar boy was abused by a Knoxville, TN priest and ex-bishop, lawsuit alleges
Amy McRary, Knoxville News Sentinel
An East Tennessee man alleges he was sexually abused as a child by a longtime Catholic priest, the first bishop of the Knoxville diocese and others. Angela Gosnell, Knoxville News Sentinel
An East Tennessee man says he was repeatedly sexually abused by a longtime priest and the first bishop of the Knoxville diocese, and was offered up to visiting priests for "inappropriate sexual conduct" in a church sacristy.
Attorneys for Blount County resident Michael Boyd are suing the Diocese of Knoxville in a Knox County Circuit Court lawsuit filed July 18. Boyd's lawyer said he is OK with his name being used in news reports.
While the diocese is the only named defendant, the 20-page lawsuit claims the former altar boy was repeatedly abused in the 1990s by longtime Knoxville priest Xavier Mankel and at least twice by Bishop Anthony O'Connell.
The bishop and the priest
O'Connell, who died in 2012, is the best-known figure named in the suit. He became the first bishop of the Knoxville diocese when it was formed in 1988. Ten years later, he became bishop in Palm Beach, Florida. He resigned in 2002 after admitting inappropriate conduct with minors in Missouri decades earlier and before he was in Knoxville.
The suit alleged that Mankel, a priest for 56 years, was Boyd's main predator. Naming Mankel as an abuser is likely to shock many Knoxville Roman Catholics. He hasn't been named on lists of priests accused of abuse that have been released by Catholic authorities or survivor support groups.
Mankel, who died in 2017 at age 81, was a Knoxville native and a Catholic institution for decades. His positions included serving as pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral from 1987-1997.
He helped found the Knoxville diocese, serving as its first chancellor and vicar general. He was later appointed monsignor.
Bishop Anthony O'Connell in 1998.
(Photo: News Sentinel Archive)
Music teacher suspended
The suit also contends William Lovelace, then a Sacred Heart music teacher, tried to get Boyd to "touch him inappropriately" during a guitar lesson.
Lovelace is still employed, but the diocese announced it has suspended him from his job at two unnamed East Tennessee Catholic schools.
The diocese suspended Lovelace after reading the lawsuit's allegations against him. In a statement, Bishop Richard Stika said Lovelace was suspended "with respect to a presumption of his innocence,"' until allegations "can be thoroughly and independently investigated."
Stika issued a letter July 19 about the lawsuit to priests, deacons, school leaders and others. In it, he said officials previously knew of Boyd's allegations against Mankel but did not find them credible.
It took years for Boyd to "take action with fear," the suit said. He filed a 2018 report with the Knoxville Police Department and met with Stika as well.
In his letter, Stika said diocese officials turned over materials given them by Boyd to an independent investigator. "The result of that independent investigation concluded that there was no finding of credible evidence to support the allegiants," Stika wrote.
Abuse allegations
The lawsuit filed by Memphis attorneys Gary Smith and Karen Campbell says the abuse began in 1991 when Boyd was a Sacred Heart Cathedral School fourth grader, and continued about two and a half years.
Monsignor Francis Xavier Mankel
The suit contends Mankel began abusing Boyd one day after Mass as the child was removing his altar boy garments.
"Father Mankel approached him from behind and grabbed him by the sides of his arms and shoulders and pulled him close. Father Mankel told him a dirty joke and pulled him closer," the suit reads. Boyd "could feel the priest's penis up against his back."
The suit contends Mankel groped Boyd and that "escalated to fondling, grooming, and other sexual activity." Boyd would often be late to class after Mass and sometimes cry in the bathroom, the document says.
Boyd sometimes tried to get away, the suit alleges, but the priest "would grab and pick him up," telling him the actions were "part of "Father Mankel's 'Love Therapy' which evolved into 'Touch Therapy.'" The suit contends that Boyd was told that touching would help him work through "physical, spiritual, emotional and mental pain."
Fascinating - it was undoubtedly what caused any physical, spiritual, emotional and mental pain! I wonder how he justified that before God?
A claimed cover-up
The suit contends that when Boyd confided to other adults, they told him no one would believe him and intimidated him to promise to stay quiet. The lawsuit says he was once told he and his brother would be expelled, his family would be removed from the church and they would become homeless.
Once, the suit says, a visiting priest learned of the abuse and told O'Connell and Mankel "nothing would happen to Michael Boyd while he was here." But, the suit says, that priest was apparently transferred a few days later.
The abuse stopped after Boyd grew strong enough to "fend off Father Mankel and other visiting priests."
However, the suit says "the damage was done, and he still kept quiet under threat of multiple adverse consequences."
The lawsuit calls for a jury trial and for an unnamed amount of damages. It says that the childhood abuse caused Boyd to "experience severe psychological injuries, and emotional harm" that included loss of his faith, "mood swings, intimacy problems, emotional disconnection in relationships, anxiety, rage and the loss of enjoyment of life."
Statement from diocese
In an emailed statement to the press accompanying Stika's letter, diocese spokesman Jim Wogan said the diocese had no further comment "until new information, brought to light in the lawsuit, can be fully and independently investigated, and the legal process is completed."
Bishop Richard Stika
"We ask that respect be given to all parties named in the lawsuit and that those accused be afforded the presumption of innocence until the merits of the lawsuit can be determined," Wogan said in the statement.
Allegations of clerical abuse and cover-up have become an issue for the Catholic Church since the scandal exploded into the national consciousness 16 years ago in Boston.
More recently, dioceses in Tennessee and nationwide have issued lists of former priests accused of sexually abusing minors. Other names have been issued by survivor support groups, including Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in 2002. It set procedures for addressing allegations of clergy sexual abuse of minors and came after The Boston Globe's investigation into priest abuse and the ensuing national crisis.
"Gay, Mafia Bishop" Receives Slap on Wrist
from Vatican
US NEWS
by Stephen Wynne • ChurchMilitant.com
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Amid an ongoing inquiry into financial malfeasance and sex abuse cover-up in West Virginia, the Vatican is imposing sanctions on Bp. Michael Bransfield, former head of the diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.
In a July 19 communiqué, Wheeling-Charleston announced that based on the investigation's findings, Pope Francis has decreed that Bp. Emeritus Bransfield is prohibited from residing in the diocese; is banned from presiding or participating in any public celebration of the Liturgy; and is obliged to "make personal amends for some of the harm he caused," with "the nature and extent of the amends to be decided in consultation with the future Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston."
"In taking these concrete actions," the announcement added, "the Holy See expresses its sincere concern for the clergy, religious and laity of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston."
But critics argue that in light of Bransfield's history of financial and sexual corruption, the penalties amount to nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
In a bombshell exposé last month, the Washington Post reported that in his nearly 14 years as head of Wheeling-Charleston, Bransfield misappropriated millions of parishioner dollars (7th story on link) on personal luxuries and showered fellow clergy with hundreds of thousands in cash gifts.
West Virginia Catholics were shocked to learn that Bransfield spent $100 a day on flowers and $1,000 a month on alcohol, and that he employed a personal chef and chauffeur using diocesan funds. The cumulative totals were staggering: from 2005-2018 for instance, Bransfield spent $2.4 million on travel — much of it personal. After a small fire damaged a single bathroom inside his chancery, he spent $4.6 million on a top-to-bottom renovation of his quarters. All this in one of the nation's most impoverished regions.
A protégé of Theodore McCarrick, Bransfield has been described by Abp. Viganò as a 'perfect example'
of the 'corrupt gay mafia' running the Church
Even worse, observers say, is the bishop's personal record of sexual misconduct.
In September, Bransfield resigned in disgrace amid allegations that as bishop he sexually abused seminarians and young priests in his charge. According to last months' Washington Post report:
[A] succession of younger male clerical assistants complained to church officials in West Virginia that Bransfield was sexually harassing them. Similar concerns were raised about Bransfield's conduct in Philadelphia, where he taught at a Catholic high school, and in the District of Columbia, where he was head of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception from 1990 to 2005.
At least six of Bransfield's clerical assistants in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston "were broken by the experience," Vicar for Clergy Anthony Cincinnati told investigators. "Seminarians or young priests appealed to leaders in the diocese, to no avail," the report says. They were instructed to "make your boundaries clear," it says, or told they had no choice to join Bransfield in such activities as sleepovers at his residence and on trips.
A protégé of serial homosexual predator Theodore McCarrick, Bransfield has been described by whistleblower Abp. Carlo Maria Viganò as a "perfect example" of the "corrupt gay mafia" running the Church.
West Virginia attorney general Patrick Morrissey said the pope's sanctions were "only one step" in cleaning up the diocese.
That's one small step for man, and one very small step for the Catholic church.
On Friday, he issued a statement making clear the diocese has refused to comply with two separate subpoenas to hand over the files regarding the Bransfield investigation.
"After decades of covering up and concealing the behavior of priests as it relates to sexual abuse, it is time for the Diocese to come clean with what it knows and release the Bransfield report and any other relevant materials," said Morrisey. "None of the allegations of financial improprieties and sexual abuse may have been revealed if not for our investigation — the public shouldn't have to wait any longer for transparency."
In March, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his office was filing suit against the diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, and against Bransfield himself, for "deceiving consumers and claiming their schools were safe when they were employing credibly accused pedophiles."
West Virginia AG Patrick Morrisey
(Gage Skidmore)
Morrisey's lawsuit accused diocesan officials of violating West Virginia consumer protection laws by marketing Catholic schools as safe for children even as they "chose to cover up and conceal arguably criminal behavior of child sexual abuse."
On May 21, Morrisey announced he was amending the suit, alleging that Bransfield was told personally that between 2007 and 2008, a Catholic elementary school in Charleston failed to perform more than 20 background checks on prospective employees, and of covering up a 2006 report on sexual abuse allegations involving a Kanawha County teacher.
"There are many, many wonderful people in the Church. I know many of them. I'm a practicing Catholic," Morrisey said at a press conference announcing the action. "And I can say to you that a lot of people have been deeply disturbed by the activities and the cover-up here. The most important thing everyone can do now is to come clean, to be transparent, acknowledge the mistakes and move forward."
But as Morrisey has noted, diocesan officials — led by Abp. William Lori, apostolic administrator of Wheeling-Charleston — are dragging their feet, ignoring two subpoenas and refusing to turn over all documents related to the Vatican's Bransfield investigation.
St. Louis archdiocese names 61 clergy accused of
child sex abuse
BY JIM SALTERASSOCIATED PRESS
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis on Friday released the names of 61 clergy facing what it determined to be "substantiated" allegations of sexual abuse of children.
The archdiocese published the names online and said it planned to also put the list in a special edition of its newspaper and distribute it to 150,000 Catholic households. The archdiocese said none of the priests are currently in ministry. The list separately named three additional priests accused of possessing child pornography.
"It will be painful for all of us to see the names of clergy accused of behavior we can barely allow ourselves to imagine," Carlson wrote. "But publishing their names is the right thing to do."
The list of priests accused of sexual abuse includes 34 who are deceased. All of the living priests have been removed from the ministry, according to the archdiocese.
David Clohessy, St. Louis director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, called it "reckless and callous" for Carlson to wait and release the names now, rather than as soon as the allegations were deemed credible.
"It's irresponsible to keep silent about a potentially dangerous child molester — or even a deceased one — and wait to disclose this knowledge in groups or bunches when it suits an employer's public relations needs," Clohessy said in a statement.
The investigation in St. Louis followed the release of a report in Pennsylvania last year that cited the abuse of more than 1,000 children by hundreds of priests since the 1940s and the efforts of church leaders to cover it up.
Following the release of that report, Pope Francis vowed that "no effort must be spared" to root out clergy sexual abuse and he begged forgiveness from the victims.
Last year, two Catholic dioceses in Missouri released similar lists of accused religious leaders. The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau said it had identified three priests, all accused of abusing children four decades ago. Two of the three have died and the third retired in 2011.
The Diocese of Jefferson City listed 35 credibly accused priests or religious brothers, stemming from an internal investigation that began in February 2018. That list included 30 priests and five members of a religious order.
Missouri's other Roman Catholic diocese, the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, is still compiling its list of credibly accused priests. Spokesman Jack Smith said the list is expected to be released in the early fall.
Meanwhile, The Missouri Attorney General's office has been investigating state's four archdioceses since last August. Chris Nuelle, a spokesman for Attorney General Eric Schmitt, said the investigation continues and it isn't yet clear when the report will be released.
From Fox2Now
List of Archdiocesan Clergy with Substantiated Allegations of Sexual Abuse of a Minor:
No. Last Name First Name Year Ordained Date of Death Status
1 Babka Robert H. 1968 2013 Removed from ministry; deceased
2 Beckman Dcn. Carl 1986 Removed from ministry
3 Beine James A. 1967 Removed from ministry; laicized
4 Brinkman Don G. 1967 Removed from ministry
5 Campbell John R. 1958 Removed from ministry
6 Campbell Michael A. 1979 Removed from ministry
7 Christian Norman H. 1961 2004 Removed from ministry; deceased
8 Cooper Thomas T. 1955 2003 Removed from ministry; deceased
9 Creason Hubert E. 1958 2006 Removed from ministry; deceased
10 Fitzgerald Alfred J. 1966 Removed from ministry
11 Funke James A. 1974 1993 Removed from ministry; deceased
12 Ghio John J. 1980 Removed from ministry
13 Goellner Glennon J. 1950 2007 Removed from ministry; deceased
14 Graham Thomas J. 1960 Removed from ministry;
15 GummersbachJames L. 1954 2014 Removed from ministry; deceased
16 Heck Donald H. 1963 2015 Removed from ministry; deceased
17 Hederman Kevin F. 1975 Removed from ministry
18 Heier Vincent A. 1977 Removed from ministry; retired
19 Huhn Bernard 1952 2000 Ministry restricted; deceased
20 Hummel Dcn. Fred 1986 Removed from ministry; laicized
21 Johnston Robert F. 1962 Removed from ministry;
22 Kaske John J. 1956 Removed from ministry; laicized
23 Kelley William A. 1977 2013 Removed from ministry; deceased
24 Kopff Marvin C. 1963 2006 Removed from ministry; deceased
25 Kuchar Bryan M. 1993 Removed from ministry; laicized
26 Lessard Joseph P. 1952 2014 Removed from ministry; deceased
27 Lippert Alexander W. 1956 2000 Removed from ministry; deceased
28 McGrath Michael 1974 Removed from ministry; laicized
29 Marschner Aloysius J. 1936 2004 Ministry restricted; deceased
30 McClintock Dennis J. 1973 Removed from ministry; laicized
31 Obmann Russell 1951 2000 Removed from ministry; deceased
32 O’Brien Joseph M. 1957 2012 Removed from ministry; deceased
33 Pavlik James J. 1963 2015 Removed from ministry; deceased
34 Rehme Albert A. 1956 2012 Removed from ministry; deceased
35 Ross Joseph D. 1969 Removed from ministry; laicized
36 Schierhoff Lawrence C. 1952 2008 Removed from ministry; laicized
37 Seidel Michael L. 1987 Removed from ministry; laicized
38 Straub Donald J. 1975 Removed from ministry; laicized
39 Toohey Michael W. 1967 Removed from ministry; laicized
40 Valentine Leroy 1977 Removed from ministry
41 Westrich Keith M. 1981 Removed from ministry
42 Wolken Gary P. 1993 Removed from ministry; laicized
43 Yim Robert J. 1974 Removed from ministry; laicized
44 Zacheis Dennis B. 1975 Removed from ministry
List of Archdiocesan Clergy with Substantiated Allegations of Sexual Abuse of a Minor that were first accused After Death
No. Last Name First Name Year Ordained Date of Death Status
1 Blase’ Francis 1941 1977 Deceased
2 Bockelmann Albert 1939 1975 Deceased
3 Byrne Maurice 1943 1993 Deceased
4 Craig Walter 1923 1971 Deceased
5 Galovich George W. 1971 2012 Deceased
6 Kertz Louis 1948 1985 Deceased
7 McLain James 1957 1998 Deceased
8 McDonough Roger 1965 1985 Deceased
9 O’Flynn Bernard 1917 1981 Deceased
10 Poepperling William 1934 1983 Deceased
11 Wieberg John 1918 1963 Deceased
12 Zimmer Ralph 1943 1981 Deceased
List of Extern Clergy with Substantiated Allegations of Sexual Abuse of a Minor
No. Last Name First Name Year Ordained Date of Death Status
1 Ferraro Romano J. 1960 Removed from ministry; laicized
2 Frobas Victor A. 1966 1993 Removed; laicized; deceased
3 Lenczycki Frederick 1972 Removed from ministry; laicized
4 Roberts Kenneth J. 1966 2018 Removed from ministry; deceased
5 Stauber James F. 1959 2010 Removed from ministry; deceased
List of Archdiocesan Clergy with Substantiated Allegations of Possession of Child Pornography
No. Last Name First Name Year Ordained Date of Death Status
1 Grady James P. 1977 Removed from ministry; laicized
2 Hess John P. 1983 Removed from ministry
3 Vatterott William F. 2003 Removed from ministry; laicized
Kansas City, KS Archdiocese priest pleads guilty to possessing child pornography on his tablet
BY KATIE MOOREKansas City Star
The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas forwarded the report to law enforcement and Rossman was suspended from ministry.
When investigators tried to find Rossman in Baldwin City, where he had previously been serving as a priest, they discovered that his sister had taken the tablet and tried to run over it several times.
A forensic examination was able to locate files depicting prepubescent girls engaging in sexual activities, McAllister said.
Scott Toth, Rossman’s attorney, said Rossman has been cooperating with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for a substantial period of time.
“It’s unfortunate that the culmination has resulted in this criminal conviction, however, Mr. Rossman has used the time between his initial investigation back in 2016 to today in a very productive way, seeking and receiving treatment,” Toth said. “We look forward to a hopeful, positive conclusion so that he and his family and everyone concerned can put it behind them.”
In January, the Archdiocese published a list of clergy who have been accused of sexual abuse. Twenty-two clergy on the list had substantiated complaints.
Rossman was listed among priests who were the subject of publicized allegations the Archdiocese said it wasn’t able to substantiate, along with three other men. Those included Scott Kallal, who now faces two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child in Wyandotte County District Court.
Kallal’s trial, which has been delayed once, is scheduled to start Sept. 9.
The Archdiocese said Rossman’s name will now be moved to its list of substantiated offenders. The process for removing a man from the priesthood, called laicization, will also begin.
Rossman had previously been assigned to churches in Olathe, Topeka, Holton, Mayetta and the Potawatomi Reservation.
Sentencing has not yet been scheduled. Rossman faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
The Archdiocese said it will continue to cooperate with law enforcement on this matter and was grateful for its work to protect the community.
An ongoing Kansas Bureau of Investigation case looking into clergy sexual abuse has prompted 74 investigations, the agency said earlier this week.
Reports of clergy sexual abuse can be made to the KBI at 1-800-572-7463. The Archdiocese also has a report line at 913-647-3051.
Lawsuit Claims Indiana Bishop Knew About
Sex Abuse by Priests
WIBC News RoomFORT WAYNE, Ind. -- A lawsuit filed against Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend claims the bishop knew about, and concealed, child sex abuse during his tenure with the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa.
67-year-old Donald Asbee told reporters he sexually abused by priests while serving as an altar boy at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Milton, Pa., reports WNDU-TV.
Asbee claims Bishop Rhoades and another bishop knew about the abuse.
In a statement, the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend said Bishop Rhoades was a child when the abuse reportedly took place. The Diocese said Rhoades is "confident" the litigation process will show he did nothing wrong.
Full statement from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend:
"Bishop Rhoades was saddened to learn of the horrific acts of child sexual abuse that Mr. Asbee alleges occurred within the Diocese of Harrisburg. Bishop Rhoades was himself less than 10 years old when these incidents purportedly occurred. He is confident the litigation process will show that he did nothing wrong.
In all instances where he was aware of a credibly accused priest, Bishop Rhoades has promptly notified authorities and removed the individual from public ministry. He stands by his record as a Bishop – both in Pennsylvania and Indiana – of protecting victims of child sexual abuse."
Clergy Abused an Entire Generation in This Alaskan Village
With New Traumas, Justice Remains Elusive
by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News, ProPublica
ST. MICHAEL, Alaska — The two brothers sat a few houses apart, each tending to his own anger. Justice is slow in Alaska villages, they have learned. Sometimes it never arrives.
Chuck Lockwood, 69, grew up in this Yup’ik Eskimo village of 400 along the Norton Sound coast but left as a child for boarding school. His rage is fresh.
Two years ago this month, the body of his 19-year-old granddaughter, Chynelle “Pretty” Lockwood, was found on a local beach. Alaska State Troopers have refused to say how she died, citing an open investigation. It appeared she had been dumped there, said Chuck, who believes it was a homicide. “Brutally murdered. Beaten up.”
Near Chuck’s family home, his younger brother Lawrence Lockwood Jr. watches crime dramas alone in his living room. His rage is long simmering. Lawrence grew up here too, but unlike his brother he didn’t go away for school.
He was among an entire generation of children, now mostly in their 50s and 60s, who survived years of sexual abuse by Jesuit priests and Catholic church personnel shipped to the village of St. Michael. His wife was abused too.
Nine Jesuit priests, volunteers and laypersons who served in St. Michael between 1949 and 1987 were later credibly accused of sexual abuse, the Diocese of Fairbanks has acknowledged. The church has apologized for the abuse.
“What we grew up with can’t be erased,” Lawrence said.
The brothers’ grief, a lifetime apart, illustrates the serialized experience of violent crime and trauma, and a persistent lack of justice, that affects entire villages in Alaska. Some wounds are older than statehood.
St. Michael and its next door neighbor Stebbins are among the 14 small Alaska city governments that the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica identified last week as having hired police officers with extensive criminal records, at least in part because there are no state-funded law enforcement officers here. The U.S. Department of Justice recently labeled the lack of law enforcement in rural Alaska a federal emergency.
Lawrence Lockwood Jr. recalls being sexually abused by a church volunteer as a child growing up in St. Michael.
Many of the children who lived in St. Michael and Stebbins in the late 1960s and 1970s were sexually assaulted by Rev. George Endal and laypersons Anton Smario and Joseph Lundowski, said John Manly, an attorney who represented the survivors in lawsuits filed in Bethel Superior Court.
The Society of Jesus, Oregon Province settled a suit related to the Alaska abuse for $50 million in 2007. The Fairbanks Diocese filed for bankruptcy and subsequently settled a raft of similar claims for around $10 million.
Lundowski, who was the subject of more than 100 reports of abuse, and Endal died before the lawsuits began; Smario denied abusing girls but admitted to being naked in front of them. It is unclear if Smario, who would be in his late 90s, is alive today. He could not be reached for comment. (All three men were named in lawsuits and are included on the Diocese of Fairbanks’ “list of perpetrators.")
“It [was] physical and cultural rape by the Jesuit order and Catholic diocese. And they knew what was happening,” Manly said. “These families, imagine every child in your community being molested, and what that would be like. That’s what they’re dealing with there.”
Chuck Lockwood is still seeking justice for his 19-year-old granddaughter, Chynelle "Pretty" Lockwood. (Bill Roth/Anchorage Daily News)
Dozens of convicted criminals have been hired as cops in Alaska communities. Often, they are the only applicants. In Stebbins, every cop has a criminal record, including the chief.
For the Lockwood brothers and many others in Stebbins and St. Michael, any expectation the Alaska criminal justice system will energetically investigate sexual assault or hold people accountable if they hurt children has been eroded by generations of neglect.
It is hard to compare Alaska villages to anywhere else in the United States. Most villages can only be reached by plane or boat. There are few jobs. Sometimes there’s no running water. Hunting and fishing are not just hobbies but necessary to feed a family. Cultures are rooted in a sense of place and community.
“The way of being a Yup’ik person is to live in peace, interconnected with the land, with ourselves, each other, animals and the universe,” said Elsie Boudreau, who grew up in the nearby village of St. Mary’s and was one of the first survivors of Alaska clergy abuse to talk publicly about it.
Combined, the villages of St. Michael and Stebbins are home to more than 1,000 people, including more than 400 children, yet there is no state-funded village public safety officer or trooper in either community. In Stebbins, all seven of the city police officers working as of July 1 had been convicted of domestic violence, the Daily News and ProPublica reported.
Children wait for vacation Bible school to start in St. Michael last month. (Bill Roth/Anchorage Daily News)
Law enforcement has failed the villages before.
While the head of the Jesuit order in the northwest denied using the villages as a dumping ground for offender priests, attorneys for abuse survivors say it’s hard to imagine how so many predatory clergy and volunteers ended up in remote Alaska communities.
Eight miles of grassy tundra and wild iris separate St. Michael and Stebbins. In Stebbins, the Bering Sea shoreline is ruler straight, racks of drying salmon lining the shore. In St. Michael, named for the archangel, the coast curves like a fiddle head. Four-wheelers buzz constantly between the two.
The victims of the clergy abuse are now elders and grandparents. But they never saw their abusers face criminal charges.
“So many of the men that are now married and have children or grandchildren have this history. This secret. And have not had an opportunity to really heal from that,” Boudreau said.
Lawrence, who at 63 is no longer Catholic, hates the idea of any kind of sexual abuse continuing in Alaska villages today.
Yvonne Evan in 2017 holds a photo on her phone of her daughter, Chynelle Lockwood. Evan wants to know what caused the death of her daughter. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News)
His brother Chuck grapples with the same feelings. He now lives in Anchorage but visited family in St. Michael in June, still waiting for resolution to his granddaughter’s death.
Alaska State Troopers have not said how Chynelle died, but the bruises on her face and the missing chunk of her thick hair suggested to her family that someone might have killed her.
Chuck doesn’t want Chynelle to join the list of missing or murdered indigenous women whose cases have gone unsolved. On July 11, the family mourned the second anniversary of her death.
Chuck said he has resisted the urge to take the law into his own hands. His father was a religious man, he said, and wouldn’t have approved of violence. “He would say: ‘Let it go. God will take care.’”
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