65 Brooklyn Priests Named in Child Abuse Cases
A report sent out by an attorney group on Thursday details abuse allegations against 65 priests at the Brooklyn Diocese, including eight priests who have never been publicly identified as abusers.
The report comes out just days before a Dec. 21 filing deadline to receive compensation provided by the diocese to abuse victims.
The priests served in about 70 churches across Brooklyn and roughly 65 in Queens, and allegations date back decades, according to the report put out by Lawyers Helping Survivors of Child Sex Abuse.
In June, the diocese launched the compensation program, known as the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program. While the legal group says the report was released to "shine a light on the credibly accused predators in Brooklyn and Queens," a spokesperson for the Brooklyn Diocese says that it appears that lawyers are trying to get in on the action to take a cut of the IRPC settlements, and that some of the names on the list are innocent men. Allegations against a number of the priests on this list have not been confirmed. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
Judge tosses PA clergy sex abuse lawsuit,
citing limitations statute
Stephen Huba
The attorney for a Blair County woman who sued a Catholic priest is considering an appeal now that a judge has thrown out the lawsuit.
Blair County Common Pleas Judge Jolene Kopriva, whose term expires at the end of the year, said Renee Rice's civil suit was filed after the statute of limitations had expired.
“I intend to review with my client her right to appeal Judge Kopriva's opinion,” said Altoona attorney Richard Serbin in a statement.
Rice and her sister, Cheryl Haun, sued the Rev. Charles Bodziak last year over allegations that he fondled them in the 1970s, when they were 7 and 9. At the time, he was serving at St. Leo's Catholic Church in Altoona.
The sisters also sued the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, which was the subject of an investigation by the Pennsylvania attorney general over allegations of clergy sexual abuse spanning decades. A special grand jury released a 147-page report in March 2016 detailing the alleged abuse of hundreds of minors by more than 50 priests in the eight-county diocese.
Bodziak, 76, is one of seven priests currently listed by the diocese as being on leave from public ministry for an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor. He was placed on leave in January 2016, while he was pastor at St. Michael's Catholic Church in St. Michael, Cambria County.
The grand jury report noted one allegation against Bodziak, made in 2003, pertaining to an incident dating back to 1971. Reese's allegation against Bodziak was first made in 2006, according to press reports.
Bodziak has maintained his innocence.
“I am disappointed in the court's ruling that concludes the statute of limitations prevents Renee from having her day in court,” Serbin said. “My client and other survivors of sexual abuse who come forward deserve the public's gratitude for their courage and determination in helping to expose these heinous crimes against children.”
Serbin said the state legislature must be convinced to change the law on civil claims.
A 2016 bill that would have extended the statute for civil claims from age 30 to age 50 passed in the House but died in the Senate.
Hard to change the law when Senators are in the pockets of the Catholic church.
In March, Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Mark L. Bartchak issued a comprehensive child sexual abuse policy after reaching an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Sexual abuse of children charges filed against former youth mental health worker in Kansas
OLATHE, Kan. -- Johnson County prosecutors have charged a former youth mental health worker with sexually abusing five children.
Investigators faced challenges in this case because the alleged crimes all involve inappropriate touching of special needs children and they all happened more than three years ago.
KidsTLC provides treatment for minors with autism and other behavioral issues.
Dijon Willis, 27, is charged with five counts of indecent liberties with a child and one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a child.
He worked at TLC in 2014 when one report of alleged abuse sparked others among teens at the center.
"It’s empowering, we’ve seen it play out nationally that once one or two people report misconduct others feel empowered to do the same," said Steve Howe, Johnson County District Attorney. "I’ve seen that on a number of occasions. Once it gets out there, other people feel more comfortable in going ahead and reporting what happened to them."
Willis left TLC in 2014 after an allegation was made against him. But investigators say he continued to work in jobs that put him in contact with children.
Willis has been released after posting a $50,000 bond.
Oregon man accused of raping two people,
including a child
By Chelsea Deffenbacher
The Register-Guard
SPRINGFIELD — A 40-year-old Springfield man faces two counts of first-degree rape for the alleged sexual assault of two people, including a child under the age of 10.
The second victim, Springfield police said, is an adult. First-degree rape is a Measure 11 offense that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of eight years, four months.
Tyler Joseph Jentzsch was arrested Friday. He’s also charged with first-degree sodomy and two counts of second-degree encouraging child sexual abuse, related to his alleged possession of child pornography discovered when police served a search warrant on Jentzsch’s computer.
Lane County Circuit Court records show Jentzsch was convicted of second-degree encouraging child sexual abuse in 1999. In 2015, he petitioned Lane County District Attorney Patty Perlow for relief from sex offender registration requirements, which was granted Sept. 22, 2015.
The alleged rape victims, police said, were known to Jentzsch.
Police declined to disclose additional details.
Paolo Soleri accused of sexual abuse by daughter
The Stars are Falling
The Stars are Falling
Eleanor Gibson
The daughter of late Italian architect Paolo Soleri has alleged that he sexually molested and attempted to rape her as a teenager.
In an open letter published on Medium, titled "Sexual abuse: it's you, him, and his work", Daniela Soleri details an abusive relationship with her father – an architect heralded for his visionary, environmentally conscious designs.
In the text, she describes a recurring dream where Soleri is "fuming" at her – which she claims was triggered by his abuse.
"It was a clumsily literal dream that started in my early adolescence, when my father, an architect and craftsman, began sexually molesting me, eventually attempting rape when I was 17," she wrote. "It was a child's solution to the problem posed by a man who I, and everyone around me, saw as the centre of the universe."
Daniela, who has a sister, grew up in the Arizona desert, where her father settled and practiced after a brief stint working under Frank Lloyd Wright at his Taliesin West school.
Paolo Soleri is known for developing his arcology concept, which aims to create densely populated human habitats with low ecological impact
The architect later developed his "arcology" concept, which combines architecture with ecology to create densely populated human habitats with low ecological impact. He demonstrated some of these ideas at Arcosanti, a commune built 50 miles north of Phoenix that is still home to a handful of residents and remains under development.
A retrospective exhibition celebrating his work is currently on show at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
But Daniela suggests her father's artistic genius was the result of his egocentric and dangerous personality.
"He had good qualities – intelligence, charisma, discipline, skill – he was extraordinary in a number of ways," she wrote. "But like many such people, including many artists, he was a fierce narcissist, capable only of seeing others in terms of their role in his world."
Soleri demonstrated these ideas at the experimental micro-community Arcosanti, north of Phoenix
Her letter, published last month, comes in the midst of a wave of sexual abuse allegations in the US.
The "national reckoning" was ignited earlier this year when The New York Times and The New Yorker reported accusations made against acclaimed Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
Daniela regrets that only now, in the wake of scandal, is abuse gaining recognition, when before it had largely been ignored. Her letter suggests that she had made contact with the New York Times, but was knocked back.
"Condemnation of sexual harassment and abuse is having a moment, and that's reason to cheer," she said.
"But let's not kid ourselves, the very publications that are now, rightly, devoting space and commentary to reporting and condemning the alleged behaviour of Harvey Weinstein over the last 30 plus years, repeatedly rejected pitches and submissions about sexual abuse by an artist and architect they reported on, eulogised, and whose work they continue to follow."
Her account shares similarities to the dozens released by both women and men since the Weinstein scandal, accusing powerful, well-regarded figures in the entertainment industry.
His other built works include the Dome House, for which he employed techniques learned from mentor Frank Lloyd Wright
She kept quiet "believing behaviours were excused by his brilliance and his work" and because she felt insignificant: "the comparison of my value versus his as a great figure – no contest!".
These reasonings also echo those in Anna Winston's Opinion column for Dezeen, which said that a male-dominant architecture industry has culture of quietly condoning sexist behaviour.
Daniela – a research scientist at the University of California's geography department – cut off relations with her father in 2011, two years before he died aged 93.
She had already privately disclosed his behaviour to his close friends 24 years ago, and then again six years ago in her resignation from the board of his Cosanti Foundation. She was surprised at the reaction of one of the members, who seemingly would have preferred that she kept silent.
Since the publication of the letter, the Cosanti Foundation board confirmed its support for her and that it would "reconsider his legacy". It will continue work on his projects like the experimental micro-city Arcosanti, which are "greater than the ideas of one man".
"We are saddened by Daniela Soleri's trauma. Her decision to speak out about her father's behaviour towards her helps us confront Paolo Soleri's flaws, and compels us to reconsider his legacy," the president of the board Jeff Stein told Dezeen.
"With Paolo Soleri's creative intelligence, he understood the need for discipline and limits to the urban form. However, his narcissism prevented him from understanding the need for discipline and limits on abusive behaviour. We support and stand firmly with Daniela."
Maryland man charged with sexual abuse of minor
EASTON — A Federalsburg man was arrested by Easton police officers Thursday, Dec. 14, after being accused of sexually abusing a minor.
Police identified the man as Skye Lloyd, 22, of Federalsburg.
According to Easton police, the investigation into the allegations started in December, after detectives, along with the Talbot County Department of Social Services, interviewed a child younger than 16, who said she was sexually assaulted by Lloyd.
Lloyd was charged similarly in 2015, when he was accused of raping five girls who were minors. Those charges were dropped, and in June 2016, he pleaded guilty in Talbot County Circuit Court to three counts of second-degree assault, according to court records. According to police at the time, the alleged rapes started in 2009, when Lloyd was a minor.
For the most recent allegations, Lloyd is charged with sex abuse of a minor, third- and fourth-degree sex offense, child abuse and second-degree assault.
He was ordered to be held at the Talbot County Detention Center without bond. YES!
Iowa man Enters Plea for Sexual Abuse Charges
Luke Maiers Local News
Chickasaw County, IA – The Chickasaw County man who had been charged with sexual abuse entered a plea last Monday.
38-year-old William Dooly is being accused of touching three children inappropriately in his camper in the summer of 2013. The kids were four, six and seven years old at the time of this crime. One child revealed this and said that he was told to keep quiet. He was also threatened with a gun.
Dooly was charged on Nov. 16 (10th story on link) with three separate accounts of sexual abuse of a minor. He has entered not guilty pleas to these charges.
The trial date is set for Feb. 14 in Chickasaw County Court. Dooly is facing up to 25 years for each count since sexual abuse is a class “B” felony in Iowa.
Iowa man found guilty of child sex abuse
Dann Hayes, dhayes1@registermedia.com
A Poweshiek County jury found Gary Wayne Elliott guilty of sexual abuse on Friday, Dec. 15.
According to Rebecca Petig, Poweshiek County Attorney, a Poweshiek County jury deliberated for approximately three hours before finding Elliott guilty on four counts of sexual abuse in the second degree. The trial began on Tuesday, Dec. 12.
Petig said the jury determined in 2012 Elliott sexually abused a child under the age of 12-years-old on four separate occasions in rural Poweshiek County.
The case began September 2016 after the sexual abuse allegations were reported.
The charges against Elliott were investigated by the Department of Human Services and Poweshiek County Deputy Steve Kivi. The case was prosecuted by the Poweshiek County Attorney’s Office.
Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree is a Class B Felony.
Petig said Elliott faces a maximum sentence of incarceration for a term not to exceed 25 years for each count, and will be required to serve a minimum of 70 percent of that 25-year sentence.
Elliott will be sentenced Jan. 22, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. at the Poweshiek County Courthouse.
Poweshiek County, IA
94-year-old man in prison for sexual abuse sentenced on new molestation charges
Laura Schulte, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
WAUSAU - A 94-year-old Wausau man already serving a lengthy prison term received a 90-day jail sentence for groping his granddaughter in 2014.
Edward Heckendorf in July 2016 was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted of eight counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 13. Those charges stemmed from the molestation of a female member of his family between ages 8 and 11 years old in his Wausau home between 1990 and 1993. Other accusations against him stretched back decades.
The charges Heckendorf was sentenced for on Monday stemmed from an incident in the summer of 2014, when his granddaughter Heidi Wolfe, by then an adult, stopped by her father's house to borrow a trailer. Heckendorf was staying with Wolfe's father because a fire had displaced him. As Wolfe prepared to leave, Heckendorf reached down her shirt and groped her.
In 2016, Wolfe told her story to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin as a way to share the effects of the abuse in her family, and give context for her decision to come forward with the allegations.
Members of the audience — Heckendorf's family members — were visibly worked up during proceedings Monday, during which the officials debated whether Heckendorf had touched Wolfe's chest or her breasts. Marathon County Judge Michael Moran passed down the sentence after the short trial, in which he noted that Heckendorf's old age wouldn’t be a reason to give him a shorter sentence.
"You're going to serve the rest of your life in prison. I hope someday you realize what you've done to this family and to this community," Moran said. "Being 94 doesn't give you an excuse."
After the sentencing, Moran also noted that though he couldn't make Heckendorf apologize, he should feel sorry for what he did to his female family members.
"No, judge," he responded. "I have nothing to be sorry about."
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